“Do whatever you want, but don’t become a farmer.”

These were the last words of a farmer to his seven-year-old son before committing suicide early this week in Medak, Telangana. Agrarian distress continues to claim more lives as farming is turning out to be a difficult proposition, especially for small and medium farmers.

Close to half the farmers surveyed recently were not happy with their current economic conditions. Also, as little as a fifth of the youth were keen on continuing farming — a trend that could pose a serious threat to the country's food security and livelihoods. It is estimated that around 2,300 farmers quit farming on a daily basis.

In his maiden Budget, the Finance Minister announced a slew of proposals for the farm sector. These — ₹500 crore price stabilisation fund, ₹1,000 crore irrigation scheme, ₹5000 crore warehousing infrastructure fund among others — are unlikely to ease the farmers’ immediate concern of a minimum guaranteed income. The only proposal that may have some implication for farmers is the ₹500 crore price stabilisation fund (PSF).

In 2003, a PSF was tried out for plantation crops. This was a producer-oriented initiative at a time when small growers were in distress owing to a slump in world prices. However, the ₹500 crore scheme announced for tea, coffee, rubber and tobacco growers failed to take off.

The Government made a mistake by linking its support mechanism to global prices, which were low. With the domestic prices moving in tandem with low global prices, the scheme did not do small growers any good.

Even if the current PSF is consumer-oriented, as is learnt, given the current inflationary context, it should reconcile the interests of both farmers and consumers.

There is also an urgent need to revamp the procurement mechanism.

Senior Assistant Editor

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