Oh! What a lovely waiver

By P.Sainath

"Pleas for ‘low-interest or no-interest loans’ have been ignored. There is no mention of a price stabilisation fund to shield farmers from the volatility of corporate-rigged global prices. Besides, the idea of a five-year repayment cycle has not been touched."

It was around the distress in regions like Vidharbha and Anantapur that the present ‘farm loan waiver’ was conceived. Growing knowledge of that distress, breaking through even the filters of a media unmoved by the crisis in the countryside, made the waiver both thinkable and acceptable. Odd then, that in its present form, it excludes the very regions whose pain brought it into existence.

Millions do indeed get relief from what is a positive step. (Though not quite as ‘unprecedented’ as some believe). Even the colonial raj went in for loan waivers or ‘karza maafi’ more than once. And those waivers addressed private moneylender debt. (There were no nationalised banks in those days.) That’s something the present waiver does not touch — even though usury accounts for the overwhelming share of farm loans. In Vidharbha, money owed to private lenders would account for between two-thirds and three-fourths of all debt. In short, we haven’t begun to resolve the debt crisis of these and millions of other farmers.

Unproductive holdings
The failure to touch moneylender debt is just the first problem. In Vidharbha, the average landholding size is 7.5 acres or 3.03 hectares. Way above the two-hectare cut-off mark for the bank loan waiver. Up to 50 per cent of Vidharbha’s farmers are above this limit. Not because they are big landlords. They tend to have larger holdings as their land is unproductive and unirrigated. Poor adivasis in Yavatmal, for instance, often own over ten acres but get very little from their land. In Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, too, many farmers will be left out by size or other norms. By contrast the farmers of Western Maharashtra, the Union Agriculture Minister’s stronghold, will benefit greatly. Their holdings are smaller, well-irrigated and more productive.

For those with over two hectares, there is the old deal of “one-time settlement” of their bank loans. In this case, if they repay 75 per cent of the loan, they will be given a rebate of 25 per cent. Only very large farmers will gain from this. If the rest, drowning in debt, could pay 75 per cent of their dues, they wouldn’t be committing suicide. They would pay hundred per cent.
Then, of those farmers falling within the two-hectare limit, only a small group have access to bank credit. So the gainers in this crisis-hit region will be a small percentage of the total number of farmers. It doesn’t end there, though. The few who do qualify, gain much less than farmers in, say, Western Maharashtra. The average crop loan in sugarcane territory is Rs. 13,000 per acre.

Apart from which farmers there get up to Rs. 18,000 per acre for drip irrigation. In Vidharbha’s cotton regions, they get loans of just Rs. 4,400 per acre. So the scale of the write-off will be far greater for the relatively better off farmers. In political terms, this benefits Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s base. At the same time, it undermines the farm base of the Congress in Vidharbha. Indeed, the average loan for the grape growers (outside of Vidharbha) is Rs. 80,000 per acre.

The cut-off date of March 31, 2007 works against even the small group of Vidharbha farmers who do benefit. Loans in the cotton regions are taken between April and June. In the cane growing regions, they are taken between January and March. This means the Vidharbha farmer has one less year of loans waived than the others.

Since no distinction has been made between dryland farmers and others, anomalies abound. West Bengal and even the non-crisis regions of Kerala have large numbers of farmers below the two-hectare limit. With agriculture in bad shape, don’t grudge them the windfall the waiver brings. But it is odd the same does not happen for farmers in dryland regions who need it most. What’s more, the farmers of Bengal and Kerala have far more access to bank credit than those in Vidharbha do.

The State government itself reckons that Rs. 9,310 crore of the waiver comes to Maharashtra. That is, almost a sixth of the total. Of this, a fraction goes to Vidharbha, the rest being collared by better off farmers. And what of other dryland farmers across the nation? Those in, say, Rayalaseema or Bundelkhand? What do they get? Is the waiver ‘unprecedented’? Each year, nationalised banks write off thousands of crores of rupees as bad debt. Mostly money owed by small numbers of rich businessmen. And theirs is not a ‘one-time waiver.’ It is a write-off that recurs every year.

Between 2000-04, banks wrote off over Rs. 44,000 crores. Mostly, this favoured a tiny number of wealthy people. One ‘beneficiary’ was a Ketan Parekh group company that saw Rs. 60 crore knocked off. (The Indian Express, May 12, 2005). However, those ‘waivers’ are done quietly. In 2004, last year of the NDA, such write-offs went up by 16 per cent. Such ‘waivers’ have not slowed down since 2004.

Staggering giveaway
And all this is apart from the annual Rs. 40,000 crore ‘giveaway’ to the rich, mainly corporate India. That has been the average in the budget every single year for over a decade. Then there are the straight handouts. No one knows how many thousands of crores are lost by handing out spectrum the way it’s being done. But we know it’s a staggering amount. Tot up the ‘tax holidays,’ exemptions and the rest of it and you’re looking at sums that make the ‘unprecedented’ one-time farm loan waiver look like loose change.

But let us look, for instance, at the millions of farmers owning less than one hectare — the largest group. Some 7.2 million of them have accounts in scheduled commercial banks. And the total outstandings against these accounts is Rs. 20,499 crores. (Reserve Bank of India: Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy 2006-07.) As Devidas Tuljapurkar of the All-India Bank Employees Association points out, that’s about the same amount the nationalised banking sector writes off each year as bad debt. Mainly for industry. Those farmers with between one and two hectares hold 5.9 million accounts and owe Rs. 20,758 crores. That is: these 13 million account holders owe less than the Rs. 44,000 crore written off by the banks during just the NDA period for a tiny number of rich people.

The waiver does bring great relief to large numbers of farmers. But it is no solution to even the immediate crisis let alone long-term agrarian problems. Nothing in this budget will raise farm incomes. Which means farmers will be back in debt within two years. Their incomes have long been much lower on average than those in other sectors. And they fall further behind each year. Worse, fresh credit will not come cheap. Pleas for ‘low-interest or no-interest loans’ have been ignored. There is no mention of a price stabilisation fund to shield farmers from the volatility of corporate-rigged global prices. Besides, the idea of a five-year repayment cycle has not been touched. And the highly unjust crop insurance rules that dog regions like Anantapur remain unchanged.

However, there is still a long way to go in the budget session. So these problems can be set right if the government is sincere about helping those worst-hit by the crisis. It could work all these measures into the final document and also adjust the terms for dryland regions.

One funny outcome of the budget is that the media are now talking about farmers. Of course, the ‘analysis’ of what is ‘pro-farmer’ comes from the elite. From CEOs, stockbrokers, business editors, corporate lobbyists and touts in three-piece suits. On budget eve one anchor posed a question to his panel in words to this effect: “Will it be a pro-poor, aam aadmi budget or will Mr. Chidambaram use the opportunity to do something good [for the country] in terms of reforms.”
When the budget rolled out, one anchor said: “And now for the budget bad news. India Inc.’s plea for a cut in corporate tax rates went unheeded.” Isn’t that cute? If a budget is pro-poor, it cannot be good for the country. If it does not give the corporate world more goodies, it is bad. And of course, the elite panellists mostly rued this “gigantic giveaway.”

While gasping at the size of the “write-off” it’s worth asking why the loan waiver comes up now. Why not in 2005, when the demand was already being made? Or in 2006 when the Prime Minister visited Vidharbha and was shaken by the widespread distress. Mr. Pawar has outsmarted his rivals. Had the step been taken then, the credit would have gone entirely to the Congress. No prizes for guessing who opposed it then (when it would have cost much less).
For three years, while the misery and suicides mounted in Vidharbha, there was not even the admission that a loan waiver was possible.

Indeed, it was shot down by those now taking out full page ads claiming credit for it. As they complain in Vidharbha, this is not about karza maafi. It is about seeking voter maafi (voters’ forgiveness) in election year.

(Courtesy:The Hindu)

Loan waiver: Not an election winner

By Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar

Political ploys initially hailed as master-strokes often end up as flops. I suspect this will happen to the Rs 60,000 crore farm loan waiver announced in the budget. It writes off 100% of overdues of small and marginal farmers holding up to two hectares, and 25% of overdues of larger farmers. Finance minister P Chidambaram has been congratulated both by economists (who think the waiver will relieve rural distress) and Congress colleagues (who think the waiver will win them the next general election). I suspect the waiver will fail in both its economic and political objectives. India has enjoyed 8-9% GDP growth for four years, but the boom has bypassed many rural areas. Farmer distress and suicides have made newspaper headlines. Various attempts to provide relief (employment guarantee scheme, public distribution system) have had little impact, thanks to huge leakages from the government’s lousy delivery systems.

So, many economists think the loan waiver is a worthwhile alternative to provide relief. The aim is worthy, but not the method. The poorest rural folk are landless labourers, who get neither farm loans nor waivers. Half of small and marginal farmers get no loans from banks and depend entirely on moneylenders, and will not benefit. Besides, rural India is full of family holdings rather than individual holdings, and family holdings will typically be much larger than two hectares even for dirt-poor farmers, who will, therefore, be denied the 100% waiver. IRDP loans to the rural poor in the 1980s demonstrated that crooked bank officials demand bribes amounting to maybe one-third the intended benefits. This will surely happen in the new loan waiver too.

After the last farm loan waiver in 1990, many banks went slow on fresh farm loans for some years. Chidambaram’s waiver will similarly slow down fresh loans to deserving farmers. In sum, only a small fraction of deserving farmers will benefit, most will get only a fraction of the promised benefits, and many undeserving defaulters (and crooked bank staff) will be significant gainers. Economist Surjit Bhalla says less than 5% of farmer loans to banks are overdue. If so, then the 95% who have repaid loans will not benefit. They will be angry at being penalised for honesty. The beneficiaries will include some of the truly distressed who merit relief, but will also include cynics who can afford to repay but have not done so, anticipating a waiver.

Chidambaram says the waiver will benefit 40 million farmers. This amounts to almost half of India’s 90 million farm households. But only a fraction of farmers have bank loans, and only 5% of these are overdue, according to Bhalla. Going by this calculation, overdues should exist for only 2.25 million farmers. Overdues to co-operatives may be higher. Yet, it is impossible that half of India’s farmers are defaulters: bank experience is far, far better. So, the budget grossly overestimates the number of beneficiaries. It also underestimates the negative effects of the waiver-encouraging wilful defaults in future, discouraging fresh bank lending for some years. What is the alternative? I have long argued that instead of trying to reach the needy through a plethora of leaky schemes that let very little through, we should transfer cash directly to the needy, using new technology like biometric smart cards and mobile phone bank accounts. This technology is being tried in a pilot project in Bihar. It needs to cover all India. Then benefits can go directly to phone accounts operable only by those with biometric cards, ending the massive leakages of current schemes.

Mobile phones will soon cover almost the whole country, and biometrics are now used in many countries. The political benefits of the loan waiver have been exaggerated no less than the economic ones. If only a small fraction of farm families benefit, and many of these have to pay bribes to get the actual benefit, will the waiver really be a massive vote-winner? All Opposition parties have long been demanding loan waivers, and many will promise to make the waivers deeper and wider if elected. It is actually logical for farmers to vote for Opposition parties, hoping to get more than Chidambaram has promised.

Besides, psychological studies show that people are especially unhappy when their neighbours move ahead of them, the more so if the neighbours have received government favours denied to others. Those who have repaid their loans will be very angry that Chidambaram has forgiven the loans of their dishonest neighbours. Members of joint families will be aggrieved that, despite having less than one hectare per head, their family holding is too large to qualify for the 100% waiver. All finance ministers, of the central or state governments, give away freebies in their last budgets, hoping to win electoral rewards. Yet, four-fifth of all incumbent governments are voted out. This shows that beneficiaries of favours are not notably grateful, while those not so favoured may feel aggrieved, and vote for the Opposition. That seems to be why election budgets constantly fail to win elections in India. I do not think the loan waiver will change that pattern.

(Courtesy:TOI)

Taste the bitter!!

I think those who read Agri magazines regularly might be knowing Bengali Venkatesh very well.Bengali Venkatesh is award winning Agri-writer;A farmer who practices organic method of farming in Sirsi Taluk.I read his articles on Adike Patrike and other Agri magazines very often.This is a photo sent to me by Anithakka of CAM.
You can see a lad (Who happens to be Anithakka's son!)enjoying with organic bitter guard grown by Bengali Venkatesh!

Thanks Anithakka

-Jayakishore Bayadi

'Media should touch grassroots'

By CAM Team

Gadag MLA D.R. Patil urged the Union Government to bring in a bill where in bidding below the support price for a farm produce is a crime. He was addressing the audience at Centre for Agricultural Media’s ( CAM ) seventh anniversary held at K.H. Patil Krishi Vijnana Kendra at Hulkoti on November 25, 2007.

He presented his views on the present agrarian crisis and the role of media in changing the prospects of farmers. He also said that agricultural universities and scientists should help farmers to achieve self-reliance and thus reduce suicidal tendency among them. More emphasis should be given to less-external input, non-chemical farming which is proved to be sustainable. Journalists have to play a significant role in ensuring that such a method is accepted and their write-ups should reflect the situation at the grassroots.

Renowned development journalist ‘Shree’ Padre complimented CAM ’s effort in guiding a generation of writers on need-based development communication. He said that such a work in the last seven years has developed a new team of writers whose write-ups have made an impact on farming and rural development. He added that farming sector is losing hope in the present situation. At this backdrop, people of varied background joining the course with an objective to focus on much-needed but neglected rural issues is a welcome development.

He stressed, “When we say sustainable development we should understand that need-based communiation is also an important input towards achieving it.”

Nineteen candidates who completed the course last year were hounoured as CAM Fellows. ETV Kannada channel’s News Coordinator G.N. Mohan gave away the certificates to the successful candidates. A total number of 37 persons have completed the course successfully in the last four years.

Speaking on the coverage of development issues in media, G.N. Mohan said, more space should be given to development issues in the media. If there is less space we should effectively utilise. At the same time he added, it is also the responsibility of development writers to create space in the mainstream media. He hoped that CAM team would become a pressure group to strengthen farmer-friendly journalism in Karnataka.

Three books titled ‘Savayava Tharasi Tota: Ondu Inuku Nota’,‘Velvet Beans: Nelakke Jeeva Tumbuva Magic Balli’ and ‘Sahaja Samrudha: Beledu Banda Dari’ written by CAM Fellow Anusuya Sharma, journalist Ganadhalu Srikanta and another CAM Fellow Rekha Sampath respectively were also released on the occasion.

D.R.Patil and veteran development writer Nagesh Hegde gave away state-level farm journalism award instituted by CAM to Balachandra Hegde Saimane, Ravishankar Doddamani and Girish H.C.

A three-day contact programme was held to the fifth batch of CAM correspondence course in farm and rural journalism at the KVK from November 23-25, 2007. A two day development communication workshop was also organised by the centre on November 24-25, 2007. During the programme candidates were given orientation on the basics of development journalism, approach towards rural development etc. Practical training was also included in the programme as two sessions of field visits were arranged. Participants wrote articles based on their visits, which was then evaluated by the resource persons.

Nagesh Hegde, H.N. Ananda, ‘Shree’ Padre, G.N. Mohan, Shivananda Kalave, L.G. Hiregoudar, Sathya S., Prakash Bhat, Poornaprajna Belur, Mallikarjuna Hosapalya, Anandatheertha Pyati, Ganadhalu Srikantha, G. Krishnaprasad and Shivaram Pailoor were the resource persons.

K.H. Patil KVK head Dr. L.G. Hiregoudar, environmentalist Mukund Maigur, organic farmer R.S. Patil were also present on the occasion.

CAM Chaiperson Anitha Pailoor welcomed the gathering and compered the programme. Development Journalist Poornaprajna Belur presented vote of thanks.
(Photo:Girish H C receiving state level farm journalism award)

It's Sweet Seven for CAM

By CAM Team

Centre for Agricultural Media ( CAM ) enters into eighth year of its activities with an encouraging note from its associates and well-wishers. Nineteen of the twenty-eight candidates of the farm and rural journalism course have successfully completed the course this year. They will be honoured as ‘CAM Fellows’ on the occasion of the centre’s annual ceremony on November 25, 2007 at K.H. Patil Krishi Vijnana Kendra, Hulkoti near Gadag in Karnataka.

CAM awards for best farm writings in Kannada will also be conferred on the occasion. The programme also includes release of three books. Hulkoti MLA D.R. Patil and G.N. Mohan, News Head, ETv Kannada will be the chief guests on the occasion.

Farm journalism awards: In the practicing farmer category Balachandra Hegde Saimane’s ‘Mane manegalalli tentaa enne’ published in the July 2007 issue of Adike Patrike a farm monthly published from Puttur has bagged the award.

In the general category Girish H.C. and Ravishankara Doddamani have shared the award. The award winning article by Girish titled ‘Cholenahalli kereneerige panne raitare donnenaayakaru’ describes a unique water management system of Cholenahalli tank in Madhugiri of Tumkur district. Ravishankar Doddamani ’s article ‘Tenguraajyadinda bidirige shapamoksha’ is a case study of an organisation which has helped villages in Waynad district of Kerala to earn a livelihood by utilising the much-neglected bamboo.

Farm and rural journalism course: This time a record number of nineteen candidates have completed the course successfully. They will be honoured as ‘CAAM Fellows’ on the occasion. New fellows are: Anusuya Sharma, Ravishankara Doddamani, Akshayarama K., Harshavardhana Sheelavanta, B.T. Poshini, Nitin Muttige, Lalita Rao M.G., Srikanta, H.V. Divya, Dr. Siddhalinga Swami Hiremath, G. Shivanna, Jayaprasad Ballekere, Sudha Rayanagoudar, Hema Moraba, R.B. Hiremath, Shreeprakash, Chandrashekhar Kallimani, B.M. Lavakumar, and Dr. G.V. Muralikrishna. All of them have proven their skills in writing on issues related to farming and rural development. Some of them are already getting assignments from major farm journals and farm supplements.

Anusuya Sharma has been selected as the best candidate of the year. Harshavardhana Sheelavant’s dissertation on the ‘Traditional medicinal practices in Uttara Kannada’ has been chosen for a special prize for the exhaustive study and beautiful presentation.

A three-day contact programme for the fifth batch of farm and rural journalism course will be held from November 23 to 25. Twenty nine candidates have been selected for this year’s award. They include practicing farmers, scientists, agriculture officers, journalists, freelancers and students. Nagesh Hegde, ‘Shree’ Padre, H.N. Ananda, G.N. Mohan, Shivananda Kalave, L.G. Hiregoudar, Sathya S., Prakash Bhat, Poornaprajna Belur, Mallikarjuna Hosapalya, Anandatheertha Pyati, Ganadhalu Srikantha, G. Krishnaprasad and Shivaram Pailoor will be the resource persons. During the course, candidates will be given practical training on farm and rural journalism.

Development communication workshop: A workshop on development communication has also been arranged on November 24 and 25. Twenty-five participants have been enrolled for this workshop. The two-day workshop aims to orient participants on the concept of development communication, its significance, techniques of writing, and different forms of development journalism and mode of presentation in electronic media.
Book release: Three books will be released on the occasion. Anasuya Sharma’s dissertation on organic terrace gardens titled ‘Savayava Tharasi Tota: Ondu Inuku Nota’ will be published by CAM and released on the occasion. CAM with financial support from well-wishers has been planning to publish one dissertation every year in the form of a book.

Journalist Ganadhalu Srikantha who won the farm journalism award last year, for his article on Velvet Beans, a legume which is of multiple uses for farmers has written a comprehensive book on this topic. This book titled ‘Velvet Beans: Nelakke Jeeva Tumbuva Magic Balli’ will also be released on the occasion.
Another book ready for release on the occasion is CAM Fellow Rekha Sampath’s dissertation on ‘Sahaja Samrudha: Beledu Banda Dari’. This explains the formation and growth of Sahaja Samrudha, an organic farmer’s group in Karnataka.

For more Details: Centre for Agricultural Media,#119, 1st main, 4th cross,Narayanapura, Dharwad- 580 008, E-mail: caam@sancharnet.in ~ Web: www.farmedia.org: Cell: 9900517749

CAM Awards announced

Centre for Agricultural Media (CAM) has announced state level farm journalism awards in Kannada for the year 2007.

Balachandra Hegde Saimane has been selected for the award in practicing farmer category while Ravishankara Doddamani and Girish H.C. have shared the awards in general category. The awards carry a cash prize of Rs.2000 for each category besides a citation and a parisara shilpa.

The awards will be presented on the occasion of CAM’s seventh anniversary at K.H. Patil Krishi Vijnana Kendra at Hulkoti in Gadag district on November 25, 2007.

My congratulations to all awardees!-Jayakishore
(Courtesy:CAM Website)

Jaipur glimpses!

By Shree Padre

Last week I was in Jaipur. Visited some villages where Lakshman Singh & his organisation Grameen Vikas Navyuvak Mandal, Lapodiya is doing outstanding rural development activities.

Here are some glimpses:
*Ghir Cows that have brought prosperity & given a new tool - animal husbamdary- to drought proof these villages.

Below:
*KHELI - safe platform for birds to eat grains - offered by villagers.
*Chauka System that does a double act - Fodder improvement & GW Recharge;
*Lakshman Singh explaining the 'Cahuka Kammal'

(I thank Shree Padre sir for sharing the Info 'n' photos)

Let’s face the BARE facts!

By Prasanna and G.Krishna Prasad

Do you know?

1) Farming community (Farmers and Agricultural labourers) is nearly 60% in India and 56% in Karnataka.

2) Nearly 6300 farmers in Karnataka alone have committed suicide over the past six years and nearly One Lakh farmers have lost their lives in the last Ten years. Vidarbha in Maharashtra has emerged as the epicenter.

3) Up to three farmers a day swallow pesticides, hang themselves from trees, drown themselves in rivers, set themselves on fire or jump down wells (They are not crazy). Many of them are plagued by debt, poor crops and hopelessness.

4) In Punjab, 2,800 widows of farmers who committed suicides, who have lost their lands, have to bring up children by working as ‘Landless workers’ on others' land.
Indian farmers in general and Karnataka farmers in particular, have never committed suicide on such a large scale. Being an agriculture dependent nation, It is a completely new phenomenon, the country is experiencing.

Certainly, all these developments are linked to the ill effects of globalization, trade liberalization in today's market and corporate-driven economy. What a pity!

The farmers, who feed us every meal, cannot put two square meals to their own children. What a sad irony? Isn’t it? Let us wake up from our slumber and stand up for farmers' 'Right to Live'.

Well, what can we do for them?

Awareness on the issues can be the first positive step.

On October 2nd, birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who always used to put farmers as backbone and heart of our Nation, we will be organizing a rally in Bangalore to show solidarity with farmers and support to the community. We will act together for our farmers and send a strong message to Government that, we will NOT tolerate this indifference anymore.

This Action is an 'Awareness activity' to inform and involve the community on the issue. You & I will not be talking about this issue now, if not for the Rally, right? It is the duty of every informed citizen to put pressure on Government, to adopt farmer friendly policy, evolving from the grass roots, and not top-down.

Details of the Event:-

Date: Oct 02, 2007,Time: 10.30 am to 12 Noon
Route: BRC Circle (Near Indian Express) to M G Road.

BOOK RELEASE:-Kannada translation of the Book, containing Devendar Sharma's speech on the Agrarian Crisis gripping the nation, will be released on the occasion. The Book is being published by Sahaja Samrudha.

-AID India/Sahaja Samrudha

Murugha Award for Na.Karanth

By B Jayakishore

Noted Agricultural journalist and Assistant editor of Adike Patrike, a farm magzine published from Puttur has been selected for this years Murugha Developmental Journalism Award, a state level honour instituted by Mysore district Journalists Association.

He has been selected for this award for his article 'Arivina Harivinda Halligala Maru huttu' which was published in Hosa Digantha daily recently.

A Hard worker, sensitive by nature, Na.Karanth has won many awards including CAAM journalism award, Pa.Go. Prashsthi, Prestigious Charaka Award for his informative highly researched agriculture based articles published in various news papers and magazines.

His latest book 'Hasiru Maathu' was acclaimed best book of the year. Sheni darshana, Hasyagaarana antahranga, NudiNamana, Sheni Chintana, Yaksha Kogile, Anthika, Tali Tapasvi were his other books. By the way he is also a well known Yakshagana Artiste.

Award will be presented to him at Patrakarthara Bhavana in Mysore on 27th August. I came into contact with Karanth about Five years ago. I think since then he is winnig an award every year it seems! Hats off to you sir! Congrats Once again!

Farmers miseries and the media

By Na.Karantha Peraje

It is as important as the food we eat, to have a concern about who grows it, for a society in which we are living in.But the indian farmer is in greatest distress than ever before. It is the responsibility of the society to instill the confidence among them. Certainly, our media plays a mojor role in it. But, is our media handling the situation effectively? This was the hot topic for the debate in a workshop for Journalists, which held recently at Centre for Alternative Agricultural Media(CAAM), Dharwad.

Let's Look at this.A farmer commits suicide in a village. We can see his wife children and other family member crying over the dead body repeatedly in our media. It becomes front page news in our news papers. True. It has to. But as time passes; somehow the family of the victim stands up against all odds, after this vicious incident has happened. But do our media, especially the popular or mainstream ever have tried to portray this development as they sensatinalised the 'Suicide' incident earlier?

Certainly not. Because of these kind of hurried and irresponsible acts of our media, now every incident of death becomes a 'Farmers suicide' in our villages.Definitely media could have avoided these 'Blunder' if it had portrayed the issue in a more positive manner.

For instance, look at the incident of death of peacocks, which took place in Gadag recently. 'Actually only around 12 to 13 peacocks have died in the incident. But the media mayhem went on reporting more than 200 deaths! What is perplexing is that few days later when the truth came out, no media was there to cover it! It is indeed sad that our media is interested only in sensationalising the issue rather than portraying factual things. Positive follow-up journalism is almost died its death' argued R.S.Patil, a farmer.

One of the key resource person for the workshop, C.U.Bellakki also had agreed to this. 'Films, gossips, glamour,crime, betrayel etc have filled every frames of our visual media. This is also applicable to our print media as well. Positive stories, Developmental issues are not at all getting priority it should get in our media. It is disheartenig that our media is moving away from the responsibility of instilling confidence among betrayed sections of our society' said Bellakki.

Then how media can handle the 'Worse' situations?

Let's look at this example. North Karnataka witnessed severe drought in recent years. The problem of water scarcity was at its peak. Now how media can report the situation positively? During these tough times Krishi Vijnana Kendra, Hulkoti has done a wonderful job.

Dr.L.G.Hiregowder, professor, KVK said: 'To erradicate the crisis which our farmers are facing, adopting the method of Organic farming is the only way. Because all input costs are very much less here, also the output is of the good quality and quantity. We launched a campaign to create awareness among farmers about positive aspects of organic farming. Along with this we also organized several workshops to make farmers of the region acquainted with benefits of self help groups, Water harvesting techniques, microfinance systems etc. We even carried out mock demonstrations of water harvesting. Iam greatful to our media which covered these aspects well'

'But did our journalists visited the spot where you have carried out developmental works? How many of them really visited and reported?'-Quick reply from another panelist Shivananda Kalave.

This is the story of Channa Basappa Kombali: 'We had a plenty of forest in our place. We didn't even knew what the water scarcity is! But as the consumption of water was increased and since no recharging measures were taken at that time, scarcity of water became a major problem. Now, we adopted water harvesting methods in over 165 wells. Situation has resumed as it was some years ago. Media has covered this development effectively. Channabasappa was even conferred 'Person of the year' award by KannadaPrabha.

"No doubt our farmers are in distress now. ut still there are so many of them who are leading peaceful life by adopting nature friendly farming techniques. The tale of those brave farmers who stood up against all odds' Said Shivananda Kalave. 'We have people who ate pumpkins, sugarcane to live during drought!' he added Dr.Prakash Bhat.

Our journalists should do some responsible journalism rather than 'Desk Journalism'. Media should throw light on positive developmental aspects rather than portraying negative stories and sensationalising it. These were the other major points which came for discussion in the workshop.

(Translated by B.Jayakishore. Na.Karantha Peraje is the assistant editor of Adike Patrike. I thank him for his wonderful article)

Is there NO end?

By B Jayakishore

This time not only the government, but also the nature has played wild game with our farmers. The Rain which created mayhem all over the state recently,set our farmers in turmoil once again.

According to media reports, it has been estimated that as much as worth Rs.4000crores of loss has occured in the state due to rain havoc in the last three months. Out of which worth Rs.3000 crores of crop simply washed away with floods. As much as 1142 villages belonging to Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada,Shimogga, Belagam, Haveri, Davanagere, Bagalkot, Kodagu have been affected by raging floods or strong wind which bufetted over all these villages.

'I think this time almost 80 percent of my yield has been washed away with rain. Add to this heavy wind which bufetted over my arecanut farm has claimed most of the young and yielding trees in my farm' said Shanker Bhat, an arecanut grower in Guththigar, near sullia,DK over phone.

President, All india Arecanut growers association, Mr.Srinivas Acharya says: 'This year rain was mercyless over farmers. Due to heavy rain which lashed all over DK, UK last month without any 'Stop' in between, the cases of 'Kole roga' (A fungal disease, which causes premature fall of ripe arecanuts; Normally un interrupted rain accelarates the growth of fungi, if proper measures like spraying bordo mixture is not been done on time. However, rain god should permit to do this! This time he didn't!) has become rampant all over, which will result in almost 50 percent of fall in crop this year'

Not only in DakshinaKannada, situation is even worse in other districts like shimogga, Uttarakannada etc. Normally an acre of fertile land accomodates about 500 arecanut plantations. Shockingly, In one of my friends farm, near Kollur, wind has swallowed as much as 80 trees within a minute!

Miseries doesn't ends there. As crumbling prices of arecanut has fuelled it further. Model supari(Iam giving accounts of only chaali arecanut being grown in DK) which was getting around Rs.80-85 per Kg till recently; Now has fallen down to Rs.60-70! Market sources say this may come down much lower in coming days.

According to Campco president S.R.Rangamurthy,'We have urged Central government to curb the import of arecanut from other countries. But still tonnes of arecanut has been imported to the country by illegal means'
Kolkotta port is being used by both India and Nepal. This has become a great boon to traders involved in unauthorised import of arecanut. As central Government already imposed 100 percent duty on imported arecanut, traders opted a different route.They import the arecanut from srilanka,Indonasia and such other countries where the produce is available dam cheap, with a 'TAG' of "To Nepal'.

But as Kolkatta port is comman for both India and Nepal, they unload it there and circulate it into indian markets by evading all taxes, customs formalities. What a clever way they adopted right? Because of which more and more foreign arecanut is flooding indian market resulting in slump in prices of indain grown produce.

'Campco has even urged central agricultural minister Sharad pawar to pass an order such that, any arecanut goods that are imported, has to be allowed to enter india only through Mangalore port. Also to appoint campco as a Quality checking agency to check for such imported goods as more often these are of very poor in quality, compared to local produce' says Rangamurthy.

'This has resulted in adulteration of indian grown arecanuts by mixing imported arecanuts, due to which image of the indian arecanut has come down in global markets. Also end users prefer these adulterated goods as they available cheap than indian goods' he adds.

However,'Even central government has agreed to our demand and also it has passed an order in this regard. But traders have filed a pettition against it in Kolkatta HC recently and suceeded in bringing stay on it. This was a big set back to us and once again we are not in a position to have a controll over crumbling domestic arecanut market' says Rangamurthy.

This may be the plight of an arecanut farmer. But In some or the other form every farmer in this country is facing hardships in one or the other way.May be in the form of natural calamities, Unsupportive government, Anti-farmer policies or uncontrolled Market fluctuations...which all lead our farmers into a 'In secure Zone'. We may vote ;Discuss; Debate over agrarian crisis in media. But the turmoil our farming community undergoing is still rampant and perhaps, will continue in future it seems.

Magasaysay award winning journalist P.Sainath rightly puts it in his recent article: 'Sixty years have passed after we become independent. Still rural india is a shambles. The most severe agrarian crisis since the eve of the Green revolution rages on. We fail to invoke even those measures the blatantly unfair WTO allows us; this means the prices our own farmers get for their products collapses by the season'

I ask, Is there NO end to farmers plight in this Country? Are you listening Mr.Manmohan singh?Mr.Pawar? Mr.Kumaraswamy?

Last week appa, who never calls unless there is any urgency, called me and said: 'Kishora, It's becoming very difficult for me to look after farm. So,I've decided to sell it off. What do you say?'

Well, what can I say? I've already fought many times with appa against selling farm, my place, my home where I've grown up, have my trees, my birds, my parrots, sang gange baare gowri baare...

But this time I didn't have any answer with me. I don't know why? I just disconnected the phone without any utter. Since then appa never called me till this day.

My Inspiration.....

By B Jayakishore

Yesterday, when Malathi akka told me P.Sainath has won the prestigious Ramon Magasaysay Award, I was really thrilled. I have a reason for that. Frankly speaking, I was deeply influenced by his writings and his views on Deveplopmental journalism. Certainly he is the Role model for any of our aspiring journalists. Of course he is for me.

Sainath is the grandson of former President of India,V.V.Giri. He studied at Jesuits in Chennai at Loyala College. His preoccupation with social problems and commitment to a political perspective began when he was a student in college. He is a graduate of Jawaharlal Nehru University,Delhi.

He is currently the rural affairs editor of The Hindu.

After receiving a Masters degree in history, he launched his career as a journalist at the UNI in 1980 where he received the news agency's highest individual award. He then worked for the Blitz, then a major South Asian weekly in Mumbai first as foreign affairs editor and then as deputy editor, which he continued for ten years.

During this time He got an opportunity to tour nine drought-stricken states in India. It changed his perception about journalism what he is doing. Sainath felt that the media's attention was moving from "News" to "Entertainment" and consumerism and lifestyles of the urban elite gained prominence in the newspapers which rarely carried news of the reality of poverty in India. "I felt that if the Indian press was covering the top 5 per cent,I should cover the bottom 5 per cent", says Sainath.

He quit Blitz and in 1993 applied for a Times of India fellowship. At the interview he spoke of his plans to report from rural India. When an editor asked him, "Suppose I tell you my readers aren't interested in this stuff", Sainath replied prompmtly-"When did you last meet your readers to make any such claims on their behalf?"

He got the fellowship and took to the back roads in the ten poorest districts of five states. It meant covering close to 100,000 km across India using 16 forms of transportation, including walking 5,000km on foot. The TOI published 84 reports by Sainath across all these 18 months, many of them subsequently reprinted in his book, Everybody Loves A Good Drought. Which remained No.1 amongst non-fiction bestsellers on diverse lists across the country. His writing has provoked responses that include the revamping of the Drought Management Programs in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh.

As a reporter, he proved the power of the Press repeatedly. In one state after another, the bureaucracy and politicians acted upon his stories. Today, more than any other journalist in India, he has been responsible for the attention brought to the raging farmers' suicides in the country. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Agriculture Commission in Andhra Pradesh to suggest ways for improving agriculture in that state.

One of his more recent projects, on dalits, for The Hindu, is nearly complete, and he is planning a book based on this work. When the newspapers were unwilling to fund beyond a point, Sainath spent from his own resources, his savings, his provident fund, his gratuity - avoiding corporate sponsors.

His current project is on the agrarian crisis nationwide, particularly those regions where its effects are most severe. He has filed over 100 reports on the agrarian crisis in recent years. He has also himself taken all the photographs that go with those reports, which established a niche of its own.

Hats off to you sir!

(inputs from various sources)

Adike Patrike, Shree Padre and Awards!

By B Jayakishore

Yes, He is the same 'Water man’ of coastal Karnataka has made us proud once again. He was conferred 'Charaka Mentor Award' by Charaka National Development and communication Network and Communication for Development and Learning, On Monday July 23. Other two journalists Ravindra G Bhat (Prajavani) and Rajashekar Hegde joginmane (Udayavaani) were conferred the Charaka awards for their excellence in Developmental Journalism. I congratulate them as well.

Shree padre is a man with zeal. A Perfectionist, Straightforward, Creative, Dreamer with mind full of ideas. While talking to him I feel a strong Positive energy is invading me every time. Also a sharp 'Critic' by nature, however, his Criticism had incited many thoughts in me.

You know the secret? I'm sorry sir! I'm disclosing it! Whenever I visit my native place Puttur on holiday, I never tell that to Padre Sir! If he traces any hint about that, he will call me and say: 'Jayakishore...what are you doing? I have an assignment for you...come to Adike Patrike office!’-That is how Padre encourages enthusiasts.

If you submit an article, the care he takes to publish it is remarkable. He informs the 'Missed' points in it and asks to fill it. If not satisfied, he himself calls the 'Hero' of the story or person concerned to the subject on which the article has been written. Then he rewrites it and you can only see how the beauty of article has enhanced only in print. Frankly, I Never saw such an enthusiastic, hardworking and ever thinking Journo in my life.

Another Interested character I have noticed in him that is 'Depth and Detail' in whatever he does and writes. He says 'While writing a story or article ask questions to yourself. Be a farmer whenever you are with a farmer. Then only the ground realities will be revealed to you. What is the point in writing an article which doesn't even incites 'Thinking' in reader if not inspires'

Shree Padre has been striving hard to create awareness about soil and water conservation in Karnataka and Kerala by conducting workshops on the theme since a decade. It was Padre who started series of feature articles on soil and water conservation in Adike Patrike for the first time in the history of farm journalism in Kannada. He has written seven books on rainwater harvesting.

Congratulations sir! You have done it again. He can be reached at: yespee@gmail.com

Adike Patrike and Passing pen to farmers..: If we move back to early 90’s mainstream newspapers used to publish articles on farm subjects only if it was written by farm scientists, professors, industry representatives or so called ‘experts’. Frankly, these ‘DRY’ AC room articles are neither read nor understood by farmers. It never discussed ground realities or farmers actual experiences.

‘Adike Patrike’ a monthly magazine about farming and rural development published in Kannada from Puttur, Dakshina Kannada district has broken all the rules. Shree Padre is the man behind the concept. When severe crash in areca nut prices resulted crisis in Karnataka in mid-80’s, All India areca growers association based in Puttur attempted to search for solutions. It was then that Idea of starting a magazine took birth to represent the interest of areca growers. Since then ‘Adike Patrike’ has been creating an ‘Information revolution’ among farmers by passing pen to them!

It challenged the conventional style of ‘Farm Journalism’ in Kannada, It started publishing true, ‘On-Field’ experiences of farmers by fostering them to write their own experiences, ideas, views on particular farm subject or systems in a simple language, keeping in mind that the published information must have some ‘usefulness’ to their counterparts.

'Our farming community is still suffering from severe inferiority complex. During our 5th anniversary we received one letter from a reader, stating that ‘Now I feel proud to be a farmer’! This shows that we are not only provided information but also instilled confidence in him. This is the biggest compliment we have ever received. I think we have made our place in farmers hearts’’ says Padre.

Style of functioning of ‘Adike Patrike’ is also totally different. To publish a story, visiting the field is common practice here. Whenever a farmer sends an article on his experiences for publication, journalist from ‘Adike Patrike’ visits the spot to cross check the facts. Whenever resources do not permit long distance travel, they collect information through correspondence. ‘Some times this process takes very long. Even months! It tests your patience; But ultimately we feel great when an excellent, useful ‘Farmer interest’ story has taken shape’ says Na.Karantha Peraje, assistant Editor, Adike Patrike.

Awards..: Adike Patrike has even global connections! Robert Trip, a researcher from Dept for International Development, UK and Sophi Levlin, a PG student of Canada Gwelf University flew down to Adike Patrike to study the impact of ‘Pen-to-farmers’ revolution. Till today it got more than 18 state level and national level journalism awards. Recently AP has got another prestigious ‘L-RAMP’ award for excellence in media/ journalist category. On Monday, Padre was conferred Charaka Mentor Award, adding another feather to AP's cap. Obviously, winning awards has become more than a habit for Adike Patrike!

Contact Address: ADIKE PATRIKE,Bhat Building, Yelmudi,Puttur, DK,Karnataka: Ph: 08251-231240; E-mail-adikepatrike@gmail.com

More nutritive than an Apple!

By Shree Padre

India is the highest cashew producing country in the world. It produces 5, 73,000 tonnes of cashew every year. Normally, cashew fruit or cashew apple which often goes waste because of ignorance about its good qualities, weighs as much as 8 to10 times of cashew separated from it. If we go by this statistics, India produces nearly 45.8lakh tonnes of cashew apples every year!

Interestingly, cashew apple contains much more nutrients than an apple. Almost 4 times of Vit-C than an orange. An Adult requires 30mg of Vit-C every day. A glass of cashew apple juice definitely will serve the purpose. In addition to this it contains potassium, kerotin, calcium, minerals and B-vitamins in abundance.

But what is the use? Most of our cashew apples go waste after cashew was plucked out of it. It is indeed disheartening to see we are unable to encash the goodness of such a wonderful fruit.

Perhaps, first time in India, Tomichchan, a farmer, now an entrepreneur based in vaniyampara, Kannur district in Kerala has ventured into a new business of producing 'Cashew fruit drink'(Squash/syrup). Even though it is priced almost one and half times than other soft drinks; people's response was enthusiastic. Many of customers liked the product 'Tomco-Cashew apple drink'.

Interestingly, CFTRI, Mysore, Agricultural university, Bangalore, Agricultural university of Kerala are all have already carried out extensive research on preparation of 'Ready to serve'(RTS) drink out of cashew apple. Even several books, project reports are available. But nobody has taken interest in starting an industry to produce such products commercially.

Basically, we Indians lack entrepreneurship. Add to this, there are some hurdles as far as value addition of cashew apple is concerned. Some are purely technical; rest of course our own notions. Some people fear of alcoholic content in the fruit. Because of its mild 'Acrid' taste(Chogaru)or 'Throat itching character' and pungent smell, no one has thought of preparing mouth watering soft drink out it.

However, there are simple methods to eliminate this problem. One of these is boiling the cashew apple in steam. Due to which one cannot make out weather the drink was prepared from cashew apple! Therefore, I believe that there is a need to eradicate such wrong notions about the fruit.

Basel mission farms in Moodabidri, DK has been producing a special RTS drink from cashew, in which sugar, water, preservatives or any type of chemicals/agents are not used. Product can last for a year even without refrigeration. But once the 'Cap' opened, it must be finished that day itself.

'We boil the fruit in steam; by then it loses its 'Acridness'(chogaru) and real taste of cashew apple comes out' says L.C.Sones, owner of farm.'But no research institutes has taken this method seriously’ Adds sones.

In our villages, there are traditions of preparing juice concentrates out of kokum or mango. In the same manner people should be encouraged to prepare juice concentrates out of cashew apples as well. Nowadays we have so many women self groups indulged in business of such products. Awareness about 'Cashew apple' juice should also be created among these women.

Ranjith pawar, a food expert from BAIF, Nasik explains such a success story. In the sindudurga district of Maharastra, thanks to efforts of konkan kaju samuh, families of shashikanth palav, milind somale and such others are have been preparing cashew apple drink for their household use for many years.

It's happy to learn that cashew research centers in Ullal near Mangalore and Puttur also will be conducting workshops for interested, on preparation of value added products from cashew apple soon.

Not only technology and subsidies are sufficient for the success and growth of agricultural based industries. But also, there is a need of support from pro farmer institutions, which should instill confidence among entrepreneurs. Considering this Tomco is indeed a remarkable step as far as boosting morale of farming community is concerned. Kannur Agricultural University, which backed such a pro-farmer venture, certainly has made a historical move.

(Courtesy: Adike Patrike. Translated by B Jayakishore)

Where exactly the chappal bites?

By Shree Padre

Recently while discussing with a foreign lady about actual cause behind agrarian crisis, who is aware of hardships faced by our farmers at grassroot level, I said- 'Poorly formulated policies are the main reason for the crisis'

She replied instantly without any hitch -'Of course, farmers are not law makers here; then how can their interest be taken care of?'

However, I don't have much knowledge about countrys where farmers are involved in law making, as for as agriculture is concrned. But I can assure you that our great politicians, buerocrats and such others, who rule us donot have even drop of knowledge of hardships our farmers. Moreover, they don't even bother about such issues. When such is the situation, how can they really solve the miseries? Isn't it like a 'Fake doctor' treating a patient?

Let's take an example of farmer's suicides. As soon as central government announced the 'Suicide-package' to vidharbha region, which witnessed highest suicides in these 14 years, some politicians demanded same type of packages be announced to respective regions to which they belonged to. But nobody knows how far these packages met the needs of families of victims. Nobody has not even shown interest even look into this aspect of the issue.

Whenever a 'Team' from central or state governments do visit the drought or calamity affected area, It turns out to be a jolly picnic. They come in AC car, stay in posh inspection bunglows in the expense of 'Inpspection or Study'. But had our government ever thought of involving some farmers who are aware of ground situations of the region they belonged to in such teams?

We have been hearing a lot about crop insurance, rain insurance and such several schemes in recent years. But when these schemes really failed to cater the need of a farmer, nobody was there to listen his woes. I ask, Is there any farmer who is truly benefited by such schemes in a farmer friendly manner?

Let's come to Agriculture research sector. According to renowned farmer Bhasker save, -'We have as many as 150 agricultural universities in our country. Most of them have thousands of acres of land and equipped with state of the art laboratories, staff etc. Above all, they all have enough fund to function. But no university is making profit out of its resources or even growing food crops in their allotted land. Every year it produces hundreds of so called 'Agri scientists' who could misguide our farmers and would propagate 'Destructive knowledge' to farming community'!! I really pity, case is not different with Agri-Reasearch institutes as well.

In our system, a person (so called scientist) who even doesn't know 'Chappals do bite sometimes' and where exactly it bites decides the needs of a farmer! They don't even show a courtesy to involve the farmer in the researches by inviting him to the research council meetings and such other activities. Some times they do; But only for namesake! So, most of the time our 'Agriculture research' does not serve the requirements of a farmer, as our scientists are only interested in delivering 'Scholar oriented' researches rather than farmer oriented.

As we all aware, Agriculture is facing severe labour shortage in our region. Even this is the case same with our agriculture research centres aswell. But had they have devoloped any farmer friendly techniques/technologies by which farmer can overcome from the crunch? No. Even if, It was developed by a farmer himself as per his needs or by the private companies. To where our Agriculture research is heading?

I agree that there are some people in these institutions, who really interested to hear the difficulties of a farmer, also makes honest efforts to solve it. But in the most of the cases it becomes only 'One man show'! As a part of a 'System' it becomes very tough for him do some 'Honest' work.

It's pity that our 'System' failed to deliver when it comes to farmers need. As a result a holistic approach to address the the problems has always remained a distant dream.I want to make it clear. 'Our farmers don't want half baked 'Research recommendations'. They need researches which are sustainable, serves farmer's needs, should increase the his standard of living,meanwhile should take care of soil-water-ecology. Thats it'!

Agricultural research should become the combined effort of farmer and scientist. Farmers should be involved in the research by conducting it in their own farms(on farm trial). When farmer-scientist model of research becomes reality, the outcome will also be obviously farmer friendly and more trust worthy. However, this should not become generosity shown upon farmers. It is the need of the hour.

(Courtesy: Adike patrike. Translated by B Jayakishore.)

(SHREE PADRE has made impressive strides in farm journalism. He is from Vaninagar, a village in Kerala bordering Karnataka. A farmer by profession,he had been the Chief Editor of Adike patrike, a unique magazine devoted to farm journalism since 18years. At present he is its Executive Editor. Iam greatful to him for allowing me to publish his editorial article from AP. Thank you sir!)

Are farmers really innocent?

By Amrith Jogi

Finally,I got into your shoes. I was very reluctant to discuss on the issues like agriculture as I have little agricultural background. Whatever I say may sound funny, Still I want to make some comments here.

Okay. Everybody blames a 'System' for the collapse of agriculture. Most of them blame it on governments' inaction. Your article is trying to focus on the mindset of farmers who discourage youth to take this as a profession.

I want to recall an incident where one of my relatives sold out everything in native and came to Bangalore to stay with thier son, who is, yes you are right, a software engineer. Father is a bank employee. Mother is a housewife. Father, after a great effort succeeded in getting transfer to Bangalore. In less than few months, son went to US on work. This left parents alone back at home (again). Following a year after, father was transferred to other place. But now, Mother is not ready to leave the newly built house and stayed back. So a micro family split into three parts. This may sounds like a short story. But Indeed,this is a new trend which has become rampant among agricultural families all around.

One of my colleagues got VRS. Reason: son got an IT job. Where this IT job will take us? Time only should answer. Now come back to agriculture. I always ponder on the issue of providing freebies to farmers. They want free water, electricity, seeds and subsidised fertilisers. This is not new demand. These were there even during golden era of 'Green revolution'. I ask, whether they sale their product 'Free' as they got every needs 'Free'?

Okay, let them fix some price for their produce. Most of the time this price is exhorbitant (rice, vegitables to mention here). You may say middlemen are behind this. I agree with this only to some extent, not fully! Do you think farmers sell their product at the price middlemen quote? Not always. I don't believe all farmers are innocent. Some crucked among them lead to the downfall of a sector.

We need to restructure not only government policies, but also mindset of the farmers. Firstly, We must educate them. Education about the available facilities, less investment- more profit, marketing tools, available storage facilities, etc. These knowledge will give them a room for success. Look at some of the successful farmers, as you have mentioned in your blog, My comments may sound childish.

That's why I mentioned my 'Innocence' in the begining. It may sound like a blind touching an elephant and passing a judgment.

(I Thank AMRITH JOGI for his thought inciting comment on the issue. He is a journalist. Thank you sir!)

Have you ever touched your plant?

By B Jayakishore

Have you ever touched any of plants in your farm? Did you ever walked along in your farm 'bare footed'? Have you ever thought of what not you've done to plants in your farm?

Those were the questions often faced by the visitors to the Kuruvalli M Purushothama Rao's farm near Theerthahalli, Shimogga district, when he was alive. A renowned agriculturist and naturalist, who was once fond of 'Green revolution', finally went on becoming a bonafied nature loving farmer by practicing organic methods of farming. Even he gave birth to several agricultural groups institutions to create awareness among the farmers about 'Organic farming', the only 'Natural' way to 'LOVE' our nature.

An Evolution should happen in Agriculture, not the Revolution- was the punch line he used to deliver in his speeches. 'Once upon a time I was using chemical fertilizers in the illusion of ‘Revolution’ happening in my farm too. But finally, I realized the ill effects of my act, when my mother earth rejected me completely for the reason of ‘Killing’ many of my 'Colleague creatures' of the farm! Still this unkind act of mine haunts me like a nightmare' he used to say.

Some decades ago, a group of farmers visited his farm. Soon after that, another group came to visit and one of the member noticed that a branch of a plant was half broken. Depressed by the harsh act by a fellow farmer, Purushothama Rao said: ' Instead of breaking my plant, why not you break me itself? Obviously, you'll never do that right? Only because it's me not the plant! Then why not the same logic or concern can be applied while dealing with plants also? Even they have life in them; they feed you and inturn give life to you. Are plants are meant only for human beings to exploit them as they wish?'

Nowadays agriculture has become a business practice rather than a practice of life. Rao used to say: The Attitude of loving your nature for 'No reason' has been disappeared from people’s mind. Every thing in agriculture as well as our life has become Money oriented. All are busy with 'Selling' whatever possible. Soil, seeds, manures...even in relationships people are looking for profit. Finding an innocent-child like smile has become a rarest phenomenon!'

'We should be content with what nature gives. That is possible only when we start loving our nature, soil, plants, leaves everything unconditionally. If we force our nature to behave according to our wishes, it won't. If you have 'Commercial' relationship with mother earth, then you are not a farmer. It is sad that nowadays we are witnessing only those kinds of people. We'll buy milk rather rearing livestocks; we'll buy rice rather cultivating it....the thinking which is invading into our farming community is dangerous' he warned once in his speech.

Purushothama rao was always remained unsupportive to the trend of growing only commercial crops. During 80's when areca nut prices were touching its high, though every farms around him was invaded by areca nut plantations, the only farm unaffected was Rao's. He used to warn his fellow farmers that monocropping, growing only commercial crops, neglecting food crops was always dangerous. Finally, his vision came true when areca nut prices crashed severely in subsequent days.

He also showed people how they can make agriculture a viable and rewarding venture by adopting organic farming methods, without disturbing ecology, soil and above all mother earth. Through his ‘Krishi prayoga parivaara’ he was successful in making many of farmers in the region to turn into organic farming.

However, our farmers should become commercial minded only when it comes to selling their crop. But if practiced with mother earth, definitely she won't forgive us. If we keep this in mind, then why can’t we love soil unconditionally? Still, it’s not easy, but not impossible.

Hats off to you rao!

Go to hell!

By B JayaKishore

Well, 'Unconditional love' might sound strange or utopic, but in practical if you love what you do, practice or anything for that matter, you'll definitely get returns out of it one day. If not today; may be tomorrow. Only thing is, you should have patience to wait! I call these kinds of thinkings as 'HOPE' rather utopic.

Remember what Krishna has said in Bhagavdgeetha- 'Karmanye vaadhikaarasthe...Maa Phaleshu kadhachana...' (Do your duty first: Don't ever bother about results: Leave every thing to me) I think the term 'Unconditional' can be interpreted in this manner also.
However, going through the both articles by Malathi and Ranjeetha, an important aspect of the issue has incited me to write this.

I have a friend 'Sathya' (Sorry..Sathya...) as we call him, working in an IT company here in Bangalore. Of course he is from an agriculture family, which has more than 5 acres of areca nut plantations, once reared more than 30cows, vegetable cultivation in around 3acres..And much more. Added to this a spacious house, car, computer…every modern amenities under his feat! Above all, fresh air, romance with with lush greenery would have made his life pleasant and beautiful. But it did not happened.

The sad thing is that, though Sathya was eager to continue agriculture, interested to adopt new methods and technologies in his own field, his father was very much reluctant to his wishes. Look at how he puts it: ' See...Farming has no future. Let this legacy be end with me itself. Now, my son is earning handsome Rs.50,000 per month in Bangalore. If he comes back here to look after farming he would not be able to earn that much. Added to this, labour shortage, unstable market, ever increasing input costs has made agriculture a non viable task. I have seen and experienced it. Let it be end with me'

Now, Sathya's family is gearing up to sell the property and thinking of migrating to Bangalore to live with khandan ka chirag-Sathya.Despite his repeated efforts to persuade his family to not sell the property, convince them about the hardships of city life and his interest to pursue farming, he couldn't able to stop them. All they had is a dumb ear to his CRY. Only thing they had in their mind is, in Bangalore one need not do 'Annoying' jobs like milking the cow, feeding them, spraying pesticides, mannuring, watering...moreover getting dirty in soil. And can lead a happy life free from all these 'Tensions'!! Finally, a 'Green dream' was shattered.

Many of our elders have a thinking that agriculture is not meant for educated youths. According to them they have to go to city and earn more money for their family. Agriculture is meant only for dropouts! Isn't it ridiculous? At the this juncture when our agriculture sector is crumbling day by day, and most of our thinkers are advocating educated youth to pursue farming, these kind of established beliefs can certainly make one's dream of 'Green life' miserable.

For instance, if a well educated youth, full of 'Green dreams' wishes to pursue farming, first question he has to face is: 'Why are you here? being such a highly educated why don't you look for a lucrative job in city rather than wasting your time here and making your hands dirty?' This alone is sufficient for a person who encounters such absurd questions repeatedly to loose confidence, who is already 'half heartedly' supported by his family. Literally he becomes lonely and starts losing interest and finally hope.

Added to this is his struggle to cope up with day today problems of the agriculture, market insecurity makes him more vulnerable to lose even traces of hope left. At the end, Nobody comes to his rescue. Nor society, nor government nor his own family! Now, tell me who is responsible for such a situation, which made him to look into road towards city? Obviously, another 'Green dream' was shattered.

Another peculiar thing that has become a social issue nowadays is that no girl is willing to marry a farmer. Interestingly even girls from the agricultural family turning away from a farmer!
According to media reports, coastal and malnad region of Karnataka, about 50 percent of young ryot grooms are still unmarried. Many of them are now in their 40s! Moreover, in most of the cases, parents, though they themselves are farmers, are hesitant to marry off their daughters to a ryot even if girl is willing! When such is the situation, how can farming be remain as respectable profession? However, It hurts me to say that It has already lost its respectabily for wrong reasons.

According to A P Malathi, writer, who recently was conferred Sahitya Academy Award, says that 'Younger generation of farming families are more vulnerable to to lose interest in farming when elder members of the family themselves are unsupportive. Also they feel more freedom, selfsufficient and fulfilling because of money they earn in cities. When parents are also supportive to this kind of life, nobody can stop them hating the soil.

What to say such to 'Characters' of our society-'who doesn't do-and don't let others to do?

Go to hell!

Nothing in this world is 'unconditional'!

By R S Ranjeetha

The very term unconditionally needs to be read, understood and interpreted with a tinge of "conditionality".

Nothing in this world is unconditional, everything comes with a price and hoards of expectations and more so in agriculture. People reverting back to their villages is not the panacea for the agrarian crisis looming large in the country.

There is a proverb in Kannada, which goes like this..."Koti vidhyegintha metividhye ye lesu". However, in the present scenario, with the farmers' suicides increasing by the day, the provern stands as a bitter truth that needs to be examined in a pragmatic manner.

With my observation on agriculture, i don't mean to ring a knell to agriculture, which is so oftenly quoted as the backbone of the Indian economy...a cliche though.

Practising agriculture is not rosy at all.Too much of damage has been done to agriculture,a most respectable job, according to me. A lot of concentrated efforts, a vision, respectability to the profession, greater institutional support in the form of finance, information,guidance, success stories, though not one here and there but a success formula needs to be evolved to save Indian farmers.

Nothing less than a magic wand is required to elevate the agrarian crisis. And it hurts me to read utopic comments about agriculture, keyed in secured physical environment.

Agriculture can be helped only when the governmnet at the centre, state,local bodies, mainstream as well as NGOs pitch in together and work in a complimentary manner.

(We've got a new GUEST WRITER Today. She is a Journalist. I Thank her for sensible interpretation of the issue. Thank you dear friend!)

Why can't we 'Love' soil unconditionally?

By Malathi Belur

It's true that the farmers in India are losing confidence and worse the case is, as they seem to have lost hope also.There are several aspects: As I read India Today's special issue on agriculture - GRAIN DRAIN - I was shocked to realise how the troubles have cropped up from everywhere to engulf our farmers.

The government's policy - lack of funds for irrigation - seems to be the main reason - 68% per cent of our population is depended on agriculture. But the grants given to this sector is considerably less - like some 5 per cent or so for irrigation, for example.

To make the situation worse are coming SEZs and importing grain from abroad. As the more and more land is acquired for road, industry etc, the land available for cultivation is reduced to nothing. Like one acre of land for a five-member family.How can the farming community sustain on this?Where is the research on agriculture going?How many students willingly opt agriculture science?And, how many young educated youth are turning back to their home to cultivate their land, to get dirty in the soil?

Of course, ask these questions and many more I can list for you all, to your brother and father back at home... When I asked persistently all my neighbours and my brother..I got some replies which were not so pleasing.. Aditya, my neighbour, (who is also son of a famous agriculturist Udayasimha, in Belur,Hosanagara taluk, Shimoga dist) told me : See, when I came back to my village after graduation, everybody here gave a strange look - probably they thought I did not get a job in City, and showed sympathy for this 'not-so-smart' guy. They could not understand my dream of continuing as farmer as this is not like being a software engineer.

Why should not we toil hard here and be independent in every sense of the word?Why can't we love our village for no reason -vinaa karana- with no expectation of returns..and keep in touch with this soil literally? Why can't this be considered prestigious?

"Wonderful! I was overjoyed to hear this and returned home with a new hope. I discussed the same issue with my brother... his reply was also equally revealing..He said.. this looks fantastic as long as you count your salary by the end of every month. But for us... everything is uncertain.. we don't know whether the seed we sow will give us rich crop or leave us starving.. bare handed.

We don't have state-of-the art machinery to work in the field... we need labour... when everyone is heading towards city, from where do we get people to work in the field? This also has led to increase in pay for the coolies. We can't earn as much as we pay for workers... We alone can't go and harvest... we need others to help us...The ideal of farming with no expectation is possible when you have sufficient money to invest. But we have born in debts and try to clear the loans till we die.

The life, in retrospection, looks like a circus - to clear loan in bank we draw loan in co-op society.. and the vicious circles grows bigger....And, as we work day and night, look dirty, no girl will come forward to marry a village guy.. hallimukka...

Of course, I could not give back to my brother... but there is grain of truth in what Aditya said also...

Why is there no incentive for our brothers to work in the field blissfully?

The false sense of prestige associated with the blue colour job is disgusting...and also the laziness of educated, waiting-for-govt job (unemployed)-youth equally disgusting...Can something practically be done to change the scene.. where like Jayakishore, Amirkhan, youth in village say, with their head straight --We are proud to be farmers?

(Malathi Belur is our GUEST WRITER today for my blog. She is a Journalist. I thank her for an electrifying article,revealing hardships faced by our farming community every moment in our villages. Thank you dear friend!)