Global economic liberalization has wrought havoc to Indian farmers.
250,000 farmers have committed suicide in the past 16 years – a staggering one
suicide every 30 minutes.
Government statistics understate the number of suicides by ignoring
whole categories such as Dalits, the so called lower cast farmers, Adivasi’s,
tribal community farmers and still others that do not hold land titles.
Sadly, the much touted green revolution has largely disappeared. Indian
farmers are no longer protected by agricultural subsidies but must compete with
giant foreign agri-businesses who enjoy heavy government subsidies in their own
countries. Genetically modified (GM) seed suppliers, such as Monsanto, are
systematically eroding Indian farmer’s ability to survive. The GM seeds are
genetically programmed to die at the end of each harvest season and must be
constantly replenished. Thus, Indian farmers are forever beholden to the
monopolistic price demands of their suppliers. The cottonseed industry is a
classic example of the predatory practices of multinational corporations.
Organic, sustainable farming has been abandoned in favor of more modern farming
methods. Water, the life blood of
farming, is becoming scarcer forcing farmers to dig deeper and deeper tube
wells at increasing costs.
One can only imagine the
uproar in the US and other western countries if their farmers were subjected to
cheaper imported agricultural products. Most western countries, Japan and China
have tight controls and offer heavy subsidies to protect their farmers.
The absence of affordable rural credit exposes the
farmers to the clutches of loan sharks who exact crippling interest rates which
can never be repaid. Desperate farmers have turned to growing cash rich drought
resistant poppy to survive. Many have fallen victim to drug abuse while others
have ingested pesticides to end their lives. This is national outrage and must
be remedied.
