Not many years ago, it was almost an uphill task to take even as little as 30 to 40 kilogrammes of grains from one district to other. If somebody having agricultural land at two places was straddling between two districts, the only choice for him/her was to dispose of the produce of one place and purchase the same, as per one’s needs, at another place. The laws against carrying the grains from one place to other were so stringent that one had to grease the palms of police and other officials. Now under the new farm laws, one cannot only carry the agricultural produce but is totally free to sell or purchase at the place of one’s choice depending upon the prices he/ she gets.
Farmers all over the country are happy with new farm laws because it provides them freedom, ensures good prices and necessary insurance cover to their crops. Mobility is the sine qua non for competitiveness and better pricing of any products. Mandis are beyond the reach of ordinary farmers because the Mandis are the cesspools of corruption and this is the reason that only rich farmers can take advantages with the help of their fellows-in -corruption officials and intermediaries.
The government would do well to retain these eminently sensible farm laws which will transform the agriculture sector. Farmers should be told in no uncertain terms that for the benefits of some brokers, vested interests, and kulaks the interests of crores of marginal and small farmers cannot be sacrificed.
Later or sooner, the MSP must also be dispensed with because this also helps only those farmers, who can pull the strings to brokers and sell their low-quality rice and wheat at the high prices. Most of the marketing of the no so good quality cereals is forced to be done by the governments at the rate of MSP. The government later sends them to the FCI, which is acutely short of the storage facility. The sub-standard grains are then sold to poultry farms or at other outlets at abysmally low costs. After all, this is the public money that goes to fill the coffers of rich kulaks, corrupt officials and intermediaries. So long this vicious circle is not broken the real Kisan will remain deprived of the profits. Agriculture can be modernised and made profitable only by contract farming. The fear of losing the landholdings are unfounded because the contract is to be provided only for renting the land and not for transferring the land to somebody else.
Agriculture like any other business needs money, which is possible only when the resourceful persons get attracted to it. Moreover, there is no point in keeping the burden increased on agriculture. Therefore, those who are opposing the reformative farm laws are neither the friends of farmers nor agriculture. They must be exposed. Agriculture has been in deep trouble or crisis for quite long. Farmers’ distress must be addressed otherwise; hundreds of farmers will continue to commit suicide and those who are engineering the protests have never had any sympathy with poor farmers. Those who are asking to repeal them must be dealt with iron hands to save agriculture and farmers from the trap of debts and the vagaries of nature.