Indian NGO says govt. package will increase farmers' suicides
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The Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Sharad Pawar, has announced a “package” to stop farmers’ suicides. This is the same “package” that the Finance Minister, Mr. Chidambaram, has offered in his budget over the past two years, which is to increase credit flow into rural areas by Rs. 1,70,000 crores. The Minister has also proposed increasing cropping intensity by increasing intensive irrigation. It is precisely this capital intensive and resource intensive agriculture that has pushed farmers into debt and suicide.
The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) survey has shown that 50% rural debt is due to capital intensive farming such as high cost Bt. cottonseeds and agrichemicals. According to the National Sample Survey, 48.6% of farmhouse holds are in debt. The two most important purposes of taking loans were stated to be “capital expenditure in farm business” and “current expenditure in farm business”. At the all India level, out of every 1000 rupees taken as loan, 584 rupees were borrowed for capital-intensive agriculture. SOURCE: Navdanya and the Research Foundation for Science Technology and Ecology |
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