Seven farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha: NGO

I-G

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Seven farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha: NGO
PTI 5 September 2009, 05:59pm IST


NAGPUR: Seven farmers have committed suicide during last two days in various parts of Vidarbha region, an NGO claimed on Saturday.


The deceased were identified as Namdeo Kohdade Waghada (Yavatmal), Ramesh Sontakke, Chikhali (Yavatmal), Kavishwar Deotale, Tirzada (Yavatmal), Narayan Nibharkar, Asegaon (Amravati), Ramesh Dudharmai, Marartola (Gondia), Ganpat Jadhav, Dalmbhi (Akola), Arun Dhande, Talegaon (Amravati), Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti's president Kishore Tiwari said.

Seven farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha: NGO - India - NEWS - The Times of India


When will the Government help these farmers , so many farmers are committing suicides .
 

sob

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It is high ime the the GOI realises that waiver of farm loans may help them win elections but it does not solve the problems paluging the agricultural sector.

Our agricultural minister should immediately severe all ties with cricket and spen some time on more pressing issues. This is the time when the Govt should be planning large scale irrigation projects in Vidharba and other drought prone regions of UP. this will go a long way to boost the agriculture.
 

I-G

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It is high ime the the GOI realises that waiver of farm loans may help them win elections but it does not solve the problems paluging the agricultural sector..
I do agree with these loans but it should be not linked to elections but to the betterment of the farmers .

Our agricultural minister should immediately severe all ties with cricket and spen some time on more pressing issues. This is the time when the Govt should be planning large scale irrigation projects in Vidharba and other drought prone regions of UP. this will go a long way to boost the agriculture
The situation is same in AP even .. More funds should be released for the farmers and in every village there should be one committe headed by a local representatives .

These suicides are increasing day by day and more people are joining naxals
 

sky

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Most of my family in india make a living out of farming and its very sad when good hard working people feel they have no choice but to commit suicide. does india have bankruptcy laws,so people can apply to a court to have there loans wiped out when they are so much in debt they cant pay the money back.if not why?
thats the best place to start i think,it will then take pressure of the poor and put the onus back on the banks.if money was lent by a money lender,this should also apply as well.
 

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Fact is that the farming model practiced is becoming economically nonviable. The farmers are barely able to sustain themselves on the money earned through selling produce, and any setback like illness, drought etc. forces them into indebtedness.

Loan waivers are just temporary measures, not a cure. The only long-term solution is to move these people off subsistence farming and retrain them as skilled workers. This would involve real social movements and making unpopular decisions, both of which the government seems incapable of doing.
 

Yusuf

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I was passing through farm land recently and saw people still using the cow to till. Doesn't say a lot does it about farming methods. Modernization of farming methods is the key. Increase produce by use of technology.

Also there are no dearths of laws in India. The problem is the laws and too many of them that allows corruption. Farm susidy is used in the most illegal way and fills the accounts of the unscrupulous. The effect of the subsidy has to reach the needy.

One way to help would be to give all farmers assistance in mechanized farming. If we can have an NREGA, we can have a national mechanized farming initiative where all farmers without any means to farm using modern technology are identified and given assistance to do so. The government can either help them buy at subsidized rates or come up with some low rental basis of letting it to farmers. Yes it has to be strictly monitored so that only the needy benefit.
 

Flint

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^Mechanized farming is only viable for large farms. The average landholding makes tractors both too expensive, and not worth the money.

The problem of small land-holdings is not going to go away. Ultimately, too many people are dependent on increasing smaller portions of land. The only solution is to increase productivity dramatically, or ensure that successor generations are trained as skilled workers in other industries than farming, or take up high-skilled jobs elsewhere.
 

Yusuf

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Giving up farming will only bring down agri production seriously compromising food security.
 

Yusuf

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Small farms cannot afford to have their own tractors etc, that's why I said that a low rental institution be formed which rents tractors etc to farmers on a need basis. You don't need tractors everyday. So rent it when you need it. It can be done at the Panchayat level.
 

Flint

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Giving up farming will only bring down agri production seriously compromising food security.
No it won't.

What it will do, is allow farmers to consolidate larger land holdings, and implement better farming practices that will boost productivity.

If you want to keep so many people on farming, then the only other option is switch to collective farms like China. 20 farmers pool their land, use modern methods, and share the produce. Such collectivism again requires significant changes in attitudes, as well as the concept of ownership and other issues like caste. It will be tough to do.

Small farms cannot afford to have their own tractors etc, that's why I said that a low rental institution be formed which rents tractors etc to farmers on a need basis. You don't need tractors everyday. So rent it when you need it. It can be done at the Panchayat level.
As I said, tractors are useless for tiny land holdings. They don't help much at all.
Only in areas like Punjab, where land holdings are relatively large, they can do it.
 

Sabir

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In India generally a common farmer has very small piece of land where it is not viable to introduce modern facilities, because there must be large scale production to cover the cost. We may try something like Collective farming which was followed in USSR. A co-operative may be formed with many small land owners and the cooperative should arrange for common mechanised farming and other facilities, and the profit of cooperative will e distributed proportionately among the farmers.
 

Sabir

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Here is one example how 'collective farming ' can bring a change in India.

Tribals reap benefits of collective farming
RAJENDRA KHATRY



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


KANDORA VILLAGE, (MP), JULY 10: From brinks of despair to cusp of hope and empowerment. That's how a success story is unfolding for the tribals in some villages around the Badalkhol sanctuary in Jashpur district of Madhya Pradesh, bordering Orissa.

Steeped in abject poverty, tribals, consisting of Pahadi Korwas, Korwas, Orans, Mundas, Birhors, Kujurs, who had nothing to look forward to; not very long ago, seem to see a new ray of hope, thanks to the Herculean efforts of a NGO-Jan Utthan Sanskritik Manch (JUSM), based at Kandora village in Kunkuri block of Jashpur.

Collective farming method taught by JUSM to the tribals scattered around the Badalkhol sanctuary is proving to be a highly successful experiment in the region. Tribals who not long ago found it difficult to maintain sustainable living, as they tried to survive on forest produce and part time farming, are now not only able to do so, but also manage some saving, which was unthinkable till a few years back.

``Initially the idea of collective farming seemed strange and we were sceptical. But looking to the impressive gains made, we realise this is the answer to our miseries, '' says Runiya Ram, one of the villagers. ``Collective farming has brought about a sea change - for the better,'' says Hira Chauhan a farmer and also the president of JUSM.

``The concept of collective farming is simple'', explains Edward Minz, secretary, JUSM and the driving force behind the idea. ``Instead of individual efforts, villagers join hands for joint farming on their collective plots of land. They pool in resources, till the fields together and cultivate crops. The produce is shared equally. The idea has clicked in a big way", he claims.

It is difficult to quantify the result of collective farming in monetary terms. But ask the tribals and they will tell you how effective the idea has been. ``Earlier we could hardly sustain ourselves in the off farming season. Now we have enough to pass off the year comfortably,'' claims Vincent Tirkey, another active farmer.

Earlier they had a single crop in their fields, double crop is now becoming a regular feature, thanks to collective farming. The crops being cultivated are rice, dal, sugarcane, herbal medicinal plants, groundnut etc. Out of these, rice and groundnut crops have been more successful. Through the long-term marketing concept jackfruit, mango and mahua trees are also being planted in the area.

While every effort is made to improve crop production, the JUSM has strictly banned use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides or hybrid seeds in fields. ``We have a firm belief in traditional farming. Chemical fertilisers and pesticides damage soil and crop. We are therefore promoting organic farming, '' says Minz. He however regrets, that the government is not making enough provision for irrigation in the tribal areas despite presence of big rivers like Eib or Dorki.

Marketing of produce is a problem of the JUSM. The tribals have never been business-minded. ``It is difficult to explain the concept of marketing to them. All they want is enough to sustain themselves throughout the year. The idea that they can not only have enough, but also earn some money from farming is still beyond them. But if they have to improve their lot they have to learn to live with this concept,'' says Minz.

One of the greatest benefits of collective farming is that it has helped unite people and tribes. ``What better way then to see Hindus, Christians and people of other faith rubbing shoulders n the fields and outside. Eating, sleeping and dining together in the course of collective farming has promoted cultural harmony in the region like nothing else,'' explains Minz.

Talking about the activities of the Jan Utthan Sanskritik Manch, Minz says it was formed in 1988 at Kandora village, Jashpur to help poor tribals sustain themselves. While the large objective of the manch remains protection and promotion of tribal culture of the region, the immediate aim is to create awareness among them to stand up for their rights.

Community development programmes are being taken up in a big way by the manch activists. ``We want to create more and more of Gram Sabhas in the region. Only then will the tribals have full control over their land, forest and water resources,'' says Minz.

Another major objective is promoting education among the tribals. The MP government too has chalked a special programme for the illiterates in the state called Education Guarantee Sceheme (EGC). Unfortunately the tribals have yet to take full benefit of the project. With the efforts of JUSM, however, things will change for the better, says Hira Chauhan.

The JUSM today uses its cultural wing to create awareness about problems and their solutions in the tribal region. Street plays or stage shows are regularly held for the purpose, informs Minz. A major issue dogging the region is the subtle move by the MP forest department to drive the tribals out of the Badalkhol sanctuary. When force didn't work, the forest department tried to induce the tribals by offering money. So far the tribals have spurned all such offers and the credit for the rejection is also shared by the blitzkrieg campaign launched by the JUSM.

Another major achievement of the JUSM is in getting minimum wages for tendu leaf collectors. Earlier the contractors could easily underpay the tribals for their hard work. Now they demand and get minimum wages.

Tribals reap benefits of collective farming
 

Sabir

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The farmers suffer not only for bad harvest , but sometimes for excessive production too. Last year in West Bengal , specially in Tarakeswar region there was excessive production of potato which force the price to fall in market due to lack of enough storage facilities. Farmers suffer a lot and most of them could not cover their investment. Some deaths were also reported.

Ironically , this year production is very low (as a lot of farmers switch off from potato and there was fungee attacks) and we are paying more than double price for potato in market. If there were proper storage facilities this type of situation could be avoided. Farmers as well as the households- both would be benefited,
 

Sabir

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Former CM of Andhra YS Rajshekhar Reddy also dreamt of community farming. Here is an extract of the report.

YSR's plan for farmers: Bottled water, community farming

Hyderabad, June 26 : The Andhra Pradesh government plans to supply bottled drinking water to all its villages and introduce community farming for better returns to farmers. ......................................................
..........................................

YSR, as the chief minister is popularly known, also announced that the government's decision to introduce community or cooperative farming in the state would ensure good returns to farmers. He recalled that this was one of the three promises made by the Congress party in recent elections. He has called an all party meeting on June 29 to elicit the opinion of other parties on the issue.

"I want to make this a model programme for the entire country," he told the meeting attended by his cabinet colleagues, top bureaucrats and district collectors of all 23 districts.

He said community farming would be the flagship programme of his government in the next five years to increase the productivity and to ensure better returns to small and marginal farmers.

The programme would be modelled on collective farming in Israel, China and Vietnam.

"It will not be imposed on anybody and will be taken up in the villages where the farmers will come forward on their own," he said.

Under the community farming programme, about 1,000 acres of land will be brought together under a company equally owned and managed by the land owning farmers to take up precision and mechanised agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, poultry, goat or sheep rearing and allied activities.

A group of farmers can come together, form a cooperative and offer their land for agriculture. "If a group of farmers come together and the value of their land is Rs.10 crore (Rs.100 million), the government will contribute an equal amount as seed money. They can borrow another Rs.20 crore (Rs.200 million) to Rs.30 crore (Rs.300 million) from banks," he said.

YSR asked the officials to rededicate themselves to effectively implement the schemes launched by his government during the last five years. He blamed the poor delivery mechanism for the Congress party not getting overwhelming majority in the state assembly.

"People have said good, go ahead. They have not given us distinction," he said and asked the officials to plug leakages, strengthen delivery systems and be accessible to people. He wanted district collectors to keep computerised records of people's petitions and the action taken to address them.

The Congress party, which retained power in the recent elections, bagged 155 seats in the 294-member assembly.

YSR also announced that he would make surprise visits to villages to see if the people were being provided with basic amenities and if the welfare schemes were reaching all the eligible people. He directed the officials to prepare helipads in every mandal headquarter for his helicopter to land.


http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-62785.html
 

Rage

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Fact is that the farming model practiced is becoming economically nonviable. The farmers are barely able to sustain themselves on the money earned through selling produce, and any setback like illness, drought etc. forces them into indebtedness.

Loan waivers are just temporary measures, not a cure. The only long-term solution is to move these people off subsistence farming and retrain them as skilled workers. This would involve real social movements and making unpopular decisions, both of which the government seems incapable of doing.

There has been some, minor progress toward that end. Contracted farming ventures, whereby forward contracts for agro and horticultural produce between farmers and large-scale / business conglomerate suppliers are established via consortiums, have been mooted as an alternative farming model by the GOI's National Agriculture Policy and have witnessed limited success. Check this out for eg.:

http://www.manage.gov.in/pgpabm/spice/March2k3.pdf
 

ZOOM

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Life has become so cheap if we visit India's hiterland. It is not only Farmers but all those people who are more or less dependent upon farm related activities who are suffering very erroneously becaus of rising debts. It is our misfortune that, farmers sucide isn't being taken seriously who are our god as far as their ability to toil on farm land and bring us a food.
 

I-G

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Former CM of Andhra YS Rajshekhar Reddy also dreamt of community farming. Here is an extract of the report.

YSR's plan for farmers: Bottled water, community farming

Hyderabad, June 26 : The Andhra Pradesh government plans to supply bottled drinking water to all its villages and introduce community farming for better returns to farmers. ......................................................
..........................................

YSR, as the chief minister is popularly known, also announced that the government's decision to introduce community or cooperative farming in the state would ensure good returns to farmers. He recalled that this was one of the three promises made by the Congress party in recent elections. He has called an all party meeting on June 29 to elicit the opinion of other parties on the issue.

"I want to make this a model programme for the entire country," he told the meeting attended by his cabinet colleagues, top bureaucrats and district collectors of all 23 districts.

He said community farming would be the flagship programme of his government in the next five years to increase the productivity and to ensure better returns to small and marginal farmers.

The programme would be modelled on collective farming in Israel, China and Vietnam.

"It will not be imposed on anybody and will be taken up in the villages where the farmers will come forward on their own," he said.

Under the community farming programme, about 1,000 acres of land will be brought together under a company equally owned and managed by the land owning farmers to take up precision and mechanised agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, poultry, goat or sheep rearing and allied activities.

A group of farmers can come together, form a cooperative and offer their land for agriculture. "If a group of farmers come together and the value of their land is Rs.10 crore (Rs.100 million), the government will contribute an equal amount as seed money. They can borrow another Rs.20 crore (Rs.200 million) to Rs.30 crore (Rs.300 million) from banks," he said.

YSR asked the officials to rededicate themselves to effectively implement the schemes launched by his government during the last five years. He blamed the poor delivery mechanism for the Congress party not getting overwhelming majority in the state assembly.

"People have said good, go ahead. They have not given us distinction," he said and asked the officials to plug leakages, strengthen delivery systems and be accessible to people. He wanted district collectors to keep computerised records of people's petitions and the action taken to address them.

The Congress party, which retained power in the recent elections, bagged 155 seats in the 294-member assembly.

YSR also announced that he would make surprise visits to villages to see if the people were being provided with basic amenities and if the welfare schemes were reaching all the eligible people. He directed the officials to prepare helipads in every mandal headquarter for his helicopter to land.


YSR's plan for farmers: Bottled water, community farming .:. newkerala.com Online News
YSR was really the man of the masses , RIP
 

I-G

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Farmers selling off wives in Bundelkhand unfortunate: Cong

Updated on Monday, September 07, 2009, 20:54 IST Tags:Bundelkhand, Congress

New Delhi: Reacting to reports of poverty stricken farmers selling off their wives in Uttar Pradesh's Bundelkhand region, Congress on Monday termed the matter as unfortunate and said the party was taking it seriously.


"It is very unfortunate...Congress is taking it very seriously. It is important to go into the roots of the issue," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here.

He said AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi had visited the area and asked for an immediate end to this practice.

Singhvi said if the state government does not take immediate steps, the party will highlight the issue with the help of its workers in the area.

NCW Chairperson Girija Vyas has termed the incident as "awful" and has written a letter to the state government on the issue decided to send a team to inquire into the reports.

Last month, a delegation of Congress leaders, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding a package of Rs 8000 crore for the Bundelkhand region, comprising of areas of both UP and Madhya Pradesh and also for setting up of a separate authority for its development.

Bureau Report

Farmers selling off wives in Bundelkhand unfortunate: Cong

Its indeed a shame for all the corrupt politcians , the hands those feed us have nothing more left for themselves ...
 

RPK

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Farmers' protest yields sorrow, 1 dead - Chandigarh - City - NEWS - The Times of India

CHANDIGARH: It was supposed to be a peaceful protest against the unbundling of Punjab State Electricity Board. However, the demonstration by
supporters of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), PSEB workers’ union and Joint Farmers’ Organization in the city went out of control leading to one farmer dying along with 60 people getting injured.

The deceased was identified as Jagshir Singh, 50, from Bathinda. Sources said he fell from the roof of a bus after being hit by a tree’s branch and got crushed under the wheel of another vehicle. Nine farmers and 36 UT cops, including SP Madhur Verma, two DSPs and five inspectors were among the injured.

The cops were apparently not expecting the protest to turn violent as sources said many of them, including senior officials, ran for cover when the stone pelting began. This also showed the failure of the intelligence apparatus of UT police.

Members of the unions were demanding that they be allowed to take their demonstration in front of Punjab chief minister’s residence from Cricket Stadium, Sector 16.

The agitated farmers also attacked Shivalikview Hotel, Sector 17, and torched and pelted with stones 38 vehicles belonging to Punjab and UT police, said cops. The mob also targeted some private vehicles parked near the Sector-16 stadium.

The violence spilled into sectors 16, 15, 22 and 24 when protesters targeted vehicles there and also tried to rob commuters, said sources. Later, UT IG SK Jain said in a press conference that most of the protesters were under the influence of alcohol and had attacked cops using liquor bottles.

He stated that though police personnel had tried to face the situation bravely, shortage of tear-gas shells and water for water cannons near Cricket Stadium had proved costly for them.

SP (city) Madhur Verma, DSP (central) Jagbir Singh and inspector Nityanand, who were heading the force trying to stop the protest, had to retreat.

Cops said four FIRs were registered under charges like damaging public property, assault, rioting and attempt to murder against the BKU?s Joginder Singh Ugrahan, PSEB union’s Gurdyal Singh Bhangal and JFO?s Amroj Singh Sodhi among others at police stations in sector 17, 11, 3 and 39.

The leaders of the unions had been urged to conduct the rally in Sector 25. However, sources said, BKU leaders had decided to take it near Cricket Stadium. Police said the leaders of PSEB union and JFO had delivered their demands to OSD to Punjab CM Sandeep Hans, but Ugrahan refused to give in and decided to take protest march towards Punjab CM’s residence.
 

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