"Our Food, Our Farmers"
What you can do this Oct 2 ? In response to the thousands of farmers suicides and the deep underlying agricultural crisis in India , let us make our voices heard far and wide. Please take part in the Global Vigil for Indian farmers by joining or organizing a vigil in your locality. Take Action
We see the Vigil as the beginning of a more concerted action from all of us. |
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"Let us not forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. When tillage begins, other arts will follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization", said Daniel Webster - such a thoughtful statement, indeed. A Farmer tills not for her/himself but for the entire World and the World will certainly be unimaginable without farmers. She sweats in her land to put food in our table and we share such natural connection with her. While we are very happy to be receiving her fruits of labor and are thankful, we have failed to look out for her wellness and prospects.
Farmers in India are in extreme social and economic distres. Huge inflation and raising input costs but lesser and lesser price for his production have left farmers in neck-deep debts and huge social and economic distress. Giant corporations, are taking away their indigenous seeds and have pushed them out of self-reliance into state of despair. Despite promises to act, the Indian Government has completely failed to protect our Farmers' interests.
This situation has led many farmers to take to the extreme step of suicide, but not before years of fighting and pleading for support, leaving their families in acute pain and dismay. Our apathy and lack of action and support is the main reason for this mounting tragedy, which has claimed the lives of an estimated 100,000 poor farmers over the last ten years in India's "suicide region" – Over 1,440 farmers ended their lives in 2006 in the Vidarbha region alone; many more farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab. The man/woman, who feeds us every meal, cannot put two square meals to his/her own children. What a sad irony?
If we don't wake up from our slumber and stand up for farmers' 'Right to Live', farming community will fall in deeper and deeper distress, destabilizing our country and its social fabric. Let us connect our food directly back to our farmers and look out for their well-being. On October 2nd, birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri, who always put farmers as heart of our nation, we will act together for our farmers. This Candlelight vigil across the globe with the true spirit of the slogan given by Shastriji - Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan - is a show of solidarity and support with our farmers as well as to send a strong message to Government that we will NOT tolerate this indifference anymore.
Let us shout out high and clear – it is "Our Food, Our Farmers". We will demand the Government in one-voice, and fight to achieve, that Government:
| 1) Provide a guaranteed Minimum Support Price and procurement for all agricultural produce that is always greater than the real cost of production including the labour (own and/or hired). The margin of profit ensured for the farming household in this calculation should ensure a decent and dignified life throughout the year for the family. 2)Speedily establish an agriculture insurance commission and offer low premiums to small farmers as recommended by the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry (6) 3)Provide waiver of bank loans of upto Rs. 25000 (7) and/or grants to pay off other loan liabilities. Additionally, increase the available credit as prescribed by or over the PM's relief package and make available these loans at much lower interest rates than the prevailing bank rates and designed such that at no point, should the total interest exceed the amount of principal. Ensure that all farmers including tenant farmers are covered by institutional credit facilities. 4)Increase financial outlays and provide training to farmers who wish to move away from mono-cropping to multi-crop, sustainable agriculture this will serve to increase food and livelihood security. Such promotion of sustainable farming should also involve strict regulation of seeds, pesticides and fertilizers industries. 5) Set up a committee, with proper representation from farmers, NGOs and people's groups, to carefully analyze the current situation and implementation of Government relief packages, in suicide prone region and make real numbers of farmers' suicides public. Regional advisory councils should be established to give recommendations on the best suited crops and seeds for each season and their operations should be closely monitored. The Relief Package should be designed bottom-upwards in consultation with farmers and community institutions, including panchayats. 6) Strengthen the system of checks and balances in the approving and marketing of seeds including fixing liabilities on the commercial seed suppliers for crop failures due to ineffective seeds; ensure good quality, diverse seeds at the time of sowing and promote indigenous and organic seeds. 7) Explicitly make agriculture a permissible work under the NREGA this will allow farmers, who want to make the shift to low-external input, sustainable farming, to hire the help they need for activities such as mulching, sowing, weeding and composting. Such a move would address aims of the NREGA as stated in section 1.1 of the NREGA, 2005 protecting the environment as well as reducing rural-urban migration. 8) Support farming of traditional millets this will not only provide local access to nutrition, but will also provide a source of fodder for cattle that are part of your relief package. This will also rejuvenate the farming systems approach that used to exist in Indian agriculture. 9) Prohibit the shift of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses, including for setting up of SEZs |