A century later, farmers’ dreams remain unfulfilled

Despite advancements in technology and economic growth, the agrarian crisis persists, with farmers grappling with low incomes, market exploitation, and the heavy burden of environmental challenges. Realising the vision of a prosperous and equitable India necessitates addressing the plight of our farmers, who remain the backbone of the nation

As the nation celebrates the 78th Independence Day, promising to move towards Viksit Bharat by 2047, a powerful poem written by the acclaimed Tamil poet Subramania Bharati some 100 years ago is a stark reminder of the difficult times when farming was trying to emerge out of despair and hopelessness.

A century later, reading through carefully picked up words in the poignant poem, I leave it to you dear readers to ascertain whether farming today has emerged free from an economic stranglehold or is still trapped in despondency. After all, as the nation is racing to be the third largest economy, Subramania Bharati’s words actually should have been forgotten. But come to think of it, these words are only a reminder of a task incomplete. To make his words go into history, farmers will have to strive hard.

But before I go any further, let’s first take a look at what Bharati wrote. If it was not for techie Venky Ramachandran, who shared the English translation of the poem on X (formerly Twitter), perhaps my attention wouldn’t have been drawn to it. Indeed very thoughtful of him to take the liberty of translating this classic song in an ‘agricultural context.

Here goes the song:

“When will this thirst for sustainable livelihood for Indian farmers be quenched?

When will this enchantment to be slave of paddy cultivation die?

When will these shackles of dependence on external agricultural inputs break and become an illusion?

When will the sufferings of Indian farmers receiving peanuts despite taking high risks get exhausted?

Oh the Divine Force who forged the Spirit of Bharat

Oh thy Divine Force who come to support a Noble life

Is it fair if your devotees suffer from famine and disease?

Where does the greatness of the World truly belong?

How can you leave them when they’ve taken refuge in agrarian livelihood?

Can mother push her son afar?”

Even if the writer has added a few words here and there to put the verse in an appropriate agricultural clime, his imagination has to be admired.

Nevertheless, reading through the touching and meaningful lines that Bharati penned down, it only shows how prophetic some poets can be. Perhaps that is what makes them so distinguished, decorous, and great. The words used to describe the grim farm scenario that existed a century ago, in lot many ways represent the farming world of today. While the farming systems must have transformed over the century, moving from de facto non-chemical agriculture to intensively farmed agriculture hugely dependent on external chemical inputs and increasingly mechanised, the plight of the farming community perhaps has only worsened. Add to it the environmental degradation and the climate upheaval, where does the ‘greatness of the world truly belong to’ as Bharati had asked?

If in the earlier part of the 20th century, farmers were getting peanuts for their produce, and a century later the economics hasn’t changed, it is a sad reflection on how the markets have ruthlessly continued to exploit agriculture. It means not only for a few decades, markets have been extracting for centuries its pound of flesh. This reminds me of an American study, which showed how farm gate prices have steadily declined after the American Civil War ended in 1865. Another study in Canada shows that price of wheat for farmers has slumped by at least six times in the past 150 years while the price for a loaf of bread has increased by five times in past 25 years or so.

More lately, the US Department of Agriculture itself acknowledges that the prices for farm produces have fallen steeply since the 1960s. This also reminds me of a study by UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development) several years ago which clearly showed that when adjusted for inflation the output prices for some of the major agricultural commodities globally had remained static in the 20 years period, between 1985 to 2005. In India, as I have often been saying, a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) has shown that in the 16 years period, between 2000 and 2016, Indian farmers had lost a staggering Rs 45-lakh crore. They had received a much lower price compared to international prices. While the nation even refused to acknowledge the OECD study, forget compensating farmers for the monumental income loss, farmers continue to somehow survive against all odds. Their perseverance and patience only leaves a miniscule sensitive section of the society baffled. For rest, it is business as usual.

If the farmers were paid ‘peanuts’ a hundred years ago, what farmers get paid now is even less, not bigger than papaya seeds. But the tragedy is that the economic design the world has drawn to achieve economic growth celebrates when the prices of farm produce fall. More steep the fall, the more profound is the acknowledgement of ‘globally competitive prices’. In other words, the apathy and neglect that agriculture continues to be faced with is actually a part of the global economic design. While farmers suffer, the rest of the educated world rejoices.

Bharati wrote: “When will this thirst for sustainable livelihood for Indian farmers be quenched?” That’s a question I will like to ask our policy makers. If the latest report of the Situational Assessment Survey for Agricultural Households that covered the period 2018-19 is a pointer, the average monthly income of an agricultural household stands at a paltry Rs 10,218. Simply put, average farm income is less that of a MNREGA worker and clearly stands at the bottom of the pyramid. In all fairness, this is not an income that can sustain a farm livelihood.

Still worse, income for agricultural operations alone (without including income from non-farm activities) has been computed at Rs 27 per day.

And finally, the poet rightly asks when he says ‘How can you leave them when they’ve taken refuge in agrarian livelihood?’ is a question that should reverberate in every political as well as academic leader’s mind. It is primarily because of the failure on the part of political leadership, academia and policy makers that successive governments have left behind millions of small farmers on the pathway to a growth trajectory; my worry is that even a hundred years after what Subramnia Bharati wrote, no appropriate lessons have been learnt. No one seems particularly enthused at the possibility of taking along farmers on the road to prosperity.

Not only policy makers, even the educated elite remain indifferent. Farmers will therefore have to take on the battle to stand for their rights, to fight for income parity. A beginning has already been made with the iconic protests that forced the withdrawal of three contentious farm laws. It is now the time for seeking legally guaranteed farm prices, followed by a proportionate budget allocation that can convert agriculture into a powerhouse of economic growth.

(The author is a noted food policy analyst and an expert on issues related to the agriculture sector. He writes on food, agriculture and hunger)