Himachal needs deficiency payment scheme, say experts

Focus should be on enhancing farmer income. The government should pay farmers for the gap between minimum support price and the actual what they have been getting in the market.

DEVINDER SHARMA, Food policy analyst

SHIMLA : Concerned over low income of farmers, agriculture experts and farmer bodies have been demanding deficiency payments on the line of Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, both BJP-ruled states.

Due to “marketing constrains, weather vagaries and government apathy”, farmers of Himachal Pradesh are facing a tough time. Even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre had announced a chain of schemes besides coining an agenda of doubling farmers’ income, experts as well as farmer bodies are not much convinced.

Food policy analyst Devinder Sharma, who was on a tour of Shimla district along with representatives of farmer bodies, said, “Focus should be on enhancing farmer income. The government should pay farmers for the gap between minimum support price and the actual what they have been getting in the market.”

Sharma said, while addressing media, “The BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have rolled out Bhavantar Scheme. The Himachal government should also replicate it with some modifications such as the base price should not be model price but the MSP.” Under this scheme, the government compensates farmers for the deficiency in its prices.

Sharma also said the government cites some particular reasons for the farmer suicide. “In Vidharbha’s region, the government says the drought is the cause behind farmers’ suicides. But in Punjab, 98% area is under irrigation,” he reasoned.

Farmer body ‘Fruit, flowers, vegetable grower association’ president Harish Chauhan said the government must act to safeguard the farmers’ interest. “Himachal has significant share of fruit economy and it is high time to think about enhancing farmers’ income,” he said.

Progressive Growers association (PGA) general secretary Kunaal Chauhan said the government policies are designed by those who have no idea of agriculture. “The government should involve farmers and their representatives in policy making,” he said.

The Himachal Pradesh high court had earlier directed the state to constitute a farmer commission besides devising a mechanism to waive off farmers’ debt upto ₹50,000. Citing fiscal constraints, the state had challenged the ruling in the apex court.

However, the government had prepared the blue print for setting up a farmer commission. Sharma said, “The state needs a farmer income commission and serious efforts to save the farmers from distress.”