Chennai: “The agriculture budget did not focus on fulfilling the promises made to farmers by the TVK during the Assembly elections. The agriculture budget should have been in a form that would satisfy farmers,” said P. Shanmugam, the state secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
In the statement he issued regarding this, he said, “The agricultural budget has been presented in the Legislative Assembly today. It is welcome that it has been announced that an organic farming college will be established in the name of Nammalvar, that a notification to encourage the production and procurement of millets has been issued, that a palm conservation movement will be launched, that a support scheme for banana plants will be implemented, and that Tamil Nadu Coconut Processing Corporation will be established along with the provision of coconut tonic to protect coconut trees from pest and disease damage.”
Announcements such as setting up cold storage warehouses for storing produce like bananas, turmeric, onions, tomatoes, mangoes, and chilies; providing subsidized solar-powered pump sets to 1,000 farmers; improving farmers’ markets; and reserving one day a week for the sale of organic farm products are welcome.
In the budget statement, additional emphasis has been placed on mechanization in agriculture. The report notes this on the basis of the view that labor is not available for farm work in villages. Already, there is the distressing situation of agricultural workers being unable to find work in farming and being forced to migrate.
In this situation, we point out to the government that fully mechanizing agriculture will create a situation in which human labor is completely rejected, and agricultural workers will not get any work in agriculture at all.
Free electricity for agriculture is a right that the farmers of Tamil Nadu won through struggle. With several lakh farmers having been waiting for years for electricity connections, the absence of any announcement regarding the provision of such connections has raised suspicion among farmers. Likewise, there is dissatisfaction among farmers that the agricultural crop loan waiver already announced by the government is not sufficient. The government must ensure that crop loans are waived as promised in the election manifesto.
For agriculture, greater attention should have been given to quality seeds, fertilizers, assured irrigation, market access, and assured procurement. In particular, in the Cauvery delta districts, the paddy bags procured are still being kept in the open without warehouse facilities for safe storage, and getting soaked in the rain and wasted has become a recurring story.
However, we point out that it is not right to leave this unmentioned in the financial statement. Furthermore, the government should come forward to provide compensation to farmers who have been affected by being unable to carry out kuruvai cultivation.
Crop damage caused not only by wild boars but by various wild animals also leads to human fatalities. The financial statement has suggested measures to prevent wild boars. At the same time, the government should announce compensation for damages caused by wild animals.
The financial statement has not focused on fulfilling the promises made to farmers by the TVK during the Assembly election.
In particular, the failure to fulfill promises such as Rs. 3,500 per quintal for paddy, Rs. 4,500 per tonne for sugarcane, the government compensating farmers when market prices fall, providing Rs. 15,000 as sowing-time assistance to every farming family, and establishing a crop insurance company by the Tamil Nadu government itself to guarantee 100 percent crop insurance has caused disappointment among farmers.
“The Marxist Communist Party insists that even greater importance should have been given to the agriculture sector, which serves as the livelihood for the majority of the people,” he said.