The Hindu Business Line : Make farming viable

The article "Farmers paying the price for not knowing the costs" (Business Line, May 2) aptly describes the ineffective role of various government boards and panels and the miserable fate of Indian farmers, for whom farming has become a lose-lose situation.

The article rightly stresses the need for a free market where demand and supply fix the price rather than intermediaries and the government. It is pathetic that those who toil to put the food on our tables are themselves not able to earn enough for their very survival.

The standard of living of other sections of society, such as businessmen, self-employed and employed professionals improves continuously, at an ever faster rate, whereas the country's farmers have languished at the same level for several decades. This makes them even more depressed and compels them to either shift to non-agricultural activity or take the extreme step.

Most farmers today do not want their next generation to be engaged in agricultural activity. What effect this will have on the nation's future food security can only be imagined. Therefore, the Government has to understand this ground reality and make serious efforts to make farming a profitable proposition. Indian farmers need real support and the freedom to fix the prices for their products, not just pointless policies and fruitless committees.

N. Sumithra Suresh

Dindigul

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