Thread by @PARInetwork

The #SwaminathanCommission cited that 400 million children, women and men from families of small or marginal farmers and landless labourers were in deep distress.

Follow the thread to read the main points of its second report. #FarmersProtest

ruralindiaonline.org/library/resour…

Its second report (523 pages) focuses on public spending initiatives that were required to mitigate India’s agrarian crisis.

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The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) suggested that the Ministry of Agriculture could be renamed the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare because the well-being of farmers should be the ministry’s main goal.

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During the eighth, ninth and tenth Five-Year Plans (1992-97, 1997-2002, 2002-2007), the growth rate of food production fell below the population growth rate. Investment in agriculture stagnated at 1.3 per cent of Gross National Product.

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Assured remunerative crop pricing could increase the productivity of small farm holdings and, in turn, alleviate rural poverty. It could also be a proactive step towards preventing farm suicides.

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Other steps to prevent the suicides were: ensuring farmers have easier access to credit and reforming its system; regulating the cultivation of water-intensive crops; introducing legislation to prevent the sale of spurious seeds and chemicals; and monitoring the market.

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Farmers’ Livelihood Security Compact would include setting up state-level farmers’ commissions; conducting a census of suicides and a survey of debt; introducing a debt waiver; initiating a shift from microfinance to livelihood finance.

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When formulating policy, arid regions should be separated from semi-arid regions, so that site-specific policies for drought proofing, land management and livelihood security could be developed.

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Village ‘knowledge centres’ could be set up in high-distress areas to provide information on agricultural and non-farm livelihoods. These could be operated, if possible, by the families of the farmers who had committed suicide.

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Post-harvest losses could be reduced with training, appropriate equipment and a tightening of the supply chain. Farmers’ groups and cooperatives could be roped into the marketing process.

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A programme for sea water farming could establish agro-aqua farms on about 50,000 hectares in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha (then Orissa) and West Bengal, as well as in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

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The Commission proposed a National Food Guarantee Act to ensure food security. People should be able to access grains from the public distribution system (ration outlets) whenever they want, wherever they want and in any quantity they want, subject to a few ground rules.

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Hill farming could be diversified, along with setting up a National Mission on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants.

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A national strategy for organic farming was necessary, which specified the regions and seasons ideal for raising crops using #organicfarming techniques.

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A well-defined biofuel policy could be developed jointly by the (then) Planning Commission, and the Ministries of Agriculture, Rural Development, Petroleum, Non-Conventional Energy Sources and Science & Technology.

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