Fields of fire

This picture depicts the condition of a vast of majority of farmers in India. Dependent on rain for water, lack of support infrastructure have pushed the India farmer to desperation. Thousands of farmers have committed suicide and thousands more are struggling to live falling into debt traps everyday.

The burning fields and poles with no wires on them symbolically represent the plight of the Indian farmer. The present Government has been a failure in the agriculture sector.

They recently announced a 60,000 crore rupees farm loan waiver. This is a clear case of mistaking a symptom for a disease. You waive off loans one year, the farmers will be in debt next year again because the basic problems remain. The seeds are of poor quality, fertilizer is even worse, water is not available on time, market connectivity is poor. In this era of fast paced growth for India, we are all forgetting where the food comes from. This neglect of Indian farmers and such short sighted policies are sure to give rise to serious consequences.

One such consequence has already been seen. Soon after the farm loan waiver was announced, a leading state owned bank stopped giving loans to farmers for tractors because repayment rates dropped. People who were paying back also hoped to benefit from the waiver and lost financial discipline.

Farming is the most respectable profession on earth. It is creating value from land, it is the basis of all other human activities. Let us bring that pride back in the farmer.