Europe stands by its farmers

Sri Krishna once told the divine sage Narada – “Nityaanha dhatha tharunaagnihotree, Pativratha Chandrasahasra darsee.” Meaning: “Yes, I do worship the farmer who feeds everyone — day after day, the devotee of fire, the unsullied, chaste ones and, those who have seen one thousand full moons.” That was the status the farmer enjoyed in ancient India. And, where is the India of today?

Last week, the visual media was full of news of farmers' suicides in Vidarbha, from where our busy and part-time Agriculture Minister hails. How have we arrived at such a pass?

India has no shortage of talent or skill. It has the best agricultural scientists, fairly reliable monsoon rainfall, and enough irrigation potential. And, our farmers are inheritors of thousands of years of farming techniques. Where then have we gone wrong? The tragedy is that no one is keen to come to grips with the reasons.

Farm activity in Europe

The situation in Europe is a stark contrast. There are support instruments, apart from export subsidies, that strengthen the EU's competitiveness in the world's agricultural markets.

The basic conditions ensure that the producer prices paid to farmers allow for both environmentally-friendly, sustainable methods of production and ensure an adequate income for the farmer. European agriculture allows for a geographical diversity of production methods.

France and Spain have by far the highest acreage of agricultural land in Europe. Other countries with large tracts of agricultural land are Germany, United Kingdom, and Italy. The Netherlands has only a small acreage of agriculture, but it has by far the highest output per hectare.

Most EU member states are net importers of agricultural products. France, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Spain, and the Netherlands, are net exporters.

Of the roughly 14 million farms in Europe, about 10 million may be defined as small — one hectare or, less. Together, all the small farms produce perhaps 10 per cent by volume of all food grown in Europe.

For much of the last fifty years, most European states have generously subsidised their own farming industries.

Common Agri Policy

At present, European Union has started discussing the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) — an expensive and largely contentious scheme, which is due to come into force in 2014.

The CAP would cost almost 60 billion Euros last year – round about 50 per cent of the whole EU budget. The total spending for 2014-20 is to increase further, to over €400 billion.

Globally, farm subsidy programmes have been subject of attack by anti-poverty activists who argue that they suppress the incomes of farmers and obstruct economic development in many of the world's poorest states. Subsidies and other forms of farming support have become a sticking point at the presently stalled Doha round of World Trade Organisation — where developing countries reject US and EU offers to reduce direct subsidies as inadequate and misleading.

I find it fascinating that despite this, the European Commission does not want to cut the budget. Why? Because, Europe has made this clear: They need their farmers. Not like in India, where the roots of the problem lie in decades of neglect of agriculture.

(The author is former Europe Director, CII and lives in Cologne, Germany. blfeedback@thehindu.co.in )

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