The onset of festivals brings promises of prosperity and hope in rural Maharashtra every monsoon. But this year, the heavy rain and floods have played havoc. The plight of farmers shows no signs of easing. Whether it is natural calamities or man-made ones, farmers battle for survival. In such a scenario, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana president Raju Shetti in a conversation with Shubhangi Khapre reflects on some of the critical issues related to agriculture and farmers. Why have you started a campaign against plastic flowers? Ahead of the festivals, our markets are suddenly seeing a huge inflow of plastic flowers. The majority of plastic flowers in the market are Chinese-made. I’m not against any country’s product. My concern is to safeguard the interests of our farmers. I met Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav recently and demanded a ban on the import of plastic flowers. Plastic flowers have adversely impacted the demand for original flowers. As a result, the income of our farmers in Maharashtra and across the country has suffered. Don't you think flower cultivation is carried out on a small scale? It may not have grown at the scale one would have liked to or expected. But since the mid-1990s, farmers looking to diversify from traditional crops are ready to experiment in floriculture. Flower farming is catching up and it has done well in several districts of Pune and Nashik region. Flowers from Maharashtra are being exported to European countries. The domestic market was also thriving. During the Covid-19 pandemic, for two years the flower market and farming were hit hard. It not only affected livelihoods but also drove farmers into huge debt. Is it because of high investments in floriculture? When you take flower cultivation into account, a farmer has to invest Rs 10 lakh to 15 lakh per acre on building a shade-net. Whereas, the green house requires Rs 70 lakh to 75 lakh per acre. These are just basic infrastructure. Apart from these, there is expenditure on account of seeds, saplings, fertilizers, water and labour charges. Mainly cut roses, gerbera, marigold, migrants, orchids, gladiola, shewanti and marigold are cultivated in Maharashtra. The Monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly concluded August 25. Do you think it addressed the demands of the agriculture sector? It was a very short session. I am disappointed with both the ruling BJP-Shinde Sena government as well as Opposition parties like the Congress, NCP, and Thackeray-led Shiv Sena. It seemed they were more interested in performing on the steps of the Vidhan Bhawan than working inside the state legislative assembly and council. The parties failed to bring the agricultural crisis and plight of farmers to the centre stage during the session. Both the ruling and opposition camps failed. Was agriculture discussed? Chief Minister Eknath Shinde made an emotive appeal through a written letter addressed to farmers. Now, just expressing sentiments is no solution for their problems. Look at the magnitude of kharif crop loss. Farmers are devastated. After first sowing, and second sowing, their entire crops got washed away. What panchnamas you will do? Instead, the government should have given Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per hectare to help the farmers. What is the point of releasing funds later? Had they given financial help immediately, farmers would have started planning for the rabi season. Are you suggesting a loan waiver? Not at all, complete loan waiver is not the solution. Incessant rain and floods have played havoc in parts of Marathwada and Vidarbha region, where farmers cultivating soybean and cotton have been the worst-hit. So, extending help to small and marginal farmers should be the government’s priority. Also, loans for soybean and cotton are pretty low when compared to sugarcane farming. A blanket loan waiver does not work. It works to the advantage of big farmers. But generous financial assistance was the need of the hour to keep up the morale of small and marginal farmers. Unless you assess the damage through panchnamas, how can a financial package be declared? There are instances of farmers resorting to extreme measures like suicides. What more proof do you need of the farm crisis? As I said, incessant rain has led to fields being flooded. Entire crops have been destroyed. Just giving assurances and sympathising with them are not going to help improve the life and livelihood of farmers. During Covid-19 pandemic, dairy farmers suffered as milk prices dropped. Has the situation improved? Things are not fine but certainly better compared to earlier, as far as the dairy farming sector is concerned. But then there are basic issues related to milk rates which will have to be taken up by the Centre. I urge the Centre to announce guaranteed prices under the milk policy at the national level. How will that help? The Centre has fixed a fair remuneration price (FRP) for sugarcane. So, sugar mills cannot exploit sugarcane farmers by giving lower FRP. They have to maintain base price levels. Similarly, if the Centre announced milk rates annually, milk companies will have to pay the minimum support price to dairy farmers when they procure from them. In absence of a milk rate policy, private milk companies exploit dairy farmers by paying lower rates. Maharashtra is the second-highest milk producer in the country with a daily output of two crore litre. Even if milk rates are higher in Maharashtra, in the absence of a central policy, private companies can procure milk from neighbouring states in which the prices are relatively lower to earn higher profits.
