New agro body to face economic challenges

He said that none of the existing political parties had the knowledge or the vision to do justice to agriculture. He said that the farmer, as well as those involved in allied fields, had to be totally free from Government interference. He said that the new organisation would comprise farmers and private agencies in the agriculture business, like manufacturers of fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural implements and agro-processing units. The new organisation would function as a corporate body forthe welfare of farmers and the agro-industry.

He claimed that due to the Government’s interference in agriculture, farmers had incurred losses to the tune of Rs 1.13,000 crore in a single year. He pointed out that future wars would not be limited to guns and bombs, but would also concern trade and industry in the open market economy. He opined that the growing use of bio-technology would affect the trade in seeds and fertilizers.

Joshi further said that it was myth that more taxation led to more revenue for the Government. He said that, on the contrary, former finance ministers had proved that reduction in taxes led to more income. He said that keeping the economic reins in the hands of the Government had led to corruption. He advocated complete freedom for farmers and those involved in the agro-business from Government interference. Speaking on the occasion, former Nashik MP Dr Vasant Pawar said that the Government had done great a injustice to farmers by including onions in the list of essentialcommodities. He said that onion growers in Nashik were at the mercy of Government interference, which had banned the export of onions.

The president of Maharashtra Fertilizers, Pesticides, Seeds Dealers Association, Vijay Thole said that agro-dealers would come out on the streets to fight against the draconian laws. He pointed out that the Government had issued a directive to agro-dealers that only agricultural graduates could be employed for sale of agro-products. “What were qualified Government personnel for?”he asked.

The vice-president of the association, Vijay Patil, said that if the Government slashed sales tax rates on agro-products, it would provide relief to farmers. Mama Khapre pointed out that while the country earned Rs 500 crore worth of foreign exchange through agro-exports from 70 pre-cooling centres in Nashik district, the Government ignored the demand for issuing power bills according to the horsepower of electric pumps, instead of metered tariff.