What is the issue?
- Cotton and soybean farmers of Vidarbha and Marathwada region are in a debt trap.
- Diversifying options like the dairy sector makes way for the farmers to get out of their problems.
What is the situation of the farmers in these regions?
- The two regions Vidarbha and marathwada have more than half of cotton area of the state, which itself accounts for a third of the country’s share.
- But only 2.7% of Maharashtra’s cotton is irrigated compared to nearly 60% of Gujarat’s.
- There is a wide gap in average per hectare cotton yield between the states.
- The farmers of these regions used to grow jowar and bajra but with changing food habits, their cultivation has declined.
- A greater portion of these regions' agriculture will have to be climate resilient as both are rain deficient.
- Farmers in the regions are going for long-duration hybrids, for better quality cotton.
- To meet the operation costs farmers are getting into debt traps which in many cases are leading to self-engineered deaths.
What measures have been taken by the government?
- Dairy initiatives - In October 2016, the National Dairy Development Board commenced operations.
- The National dairy development board helps setting up the farmer producer companies.
- But the board does not intend to stay for the long-haul.
- Once farmer producer companies gain the capacity to take over the operations and marketing, the board will exit.
- Milk collection averages 1.25 lakh litres per day which is processed at a refurbished dairy in Nagpur, given by the state government.
- Money is credited to the seller bank accounts; this is a steady source of income which takes care of their daily needs.
- Bamboo Initiatives - The Maharashtra Bamboo Development Board was set up last year to promote cultivated bamboo, using tissue cultured seedlings.
- It helps the farmers lso supplement their income as bamboo is a versatile crop that has varied utility including for the paper and timber industry.
What are the issues with dairy initiative?
- Use of technology -With the help of an Android-based app, farmers can know whether they are giving their animals the right diet, overdosing them with some nutrients or under-providing others.
- For this, they have to tag their animals and feed data regarding weight, lactation stage and current milk yield.
- The usage of modern technologies for monitoring animals has not been widely understood by the farmers.
- Ideological clashes -The growth of the dairy industry is tied to the meat industry.
- Unless non and post-lactating animals are culled, farmers will not be able to give proper care to the productive ones. This is where ideology clashes with economics.
Source: Financial Express
