The Consortium of Indian Farmers’ Association has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to permit purchase of diesel and fertilizers with the old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes till the end of the year.
Consortium secretary general B. Dasaratha Rami Reddy, president R.V. Giri and Chief Advisor (A.P.) P. Chengal Reddy in a letter to the Prime Minister said the effort was worth appreciating but there were some field problems that needed his personal attention.
The letter said 86 per cent of the population were small, marginal, tenant farmers, agriculture labour, fishermen and dairy workers. Most of them were outside the purview of banking transactions. The banks had disbursed credit (RRBS, cooperative and nationalised banks) providing loan only to 35 per cent of the farmers. This further showed that a huge percentage of small and marginal farmers were outside the ambit of the banks.
Agriculture is a seasonal occupation in which kharif (Monsoon season) crop is cultivated from June to December. Oil seeds, pulses, cotton and minor millets arrive in the market only during November and December. Farmers have to sell their produce to moneylenders and input suppliers. The payment received is adjusted for credit and the rest is used for household expenditure. Subsequently farmers reinvest the amount for Rabi in January-April. Therefore, there is no scope for farmers to wait or make adjustments, the letter explained.
As of today only 15 to 20 per cent of the produce has reached the market. In the few days after the demonetisation, the open market price of perishables had fallen by 50 per cent and that of commercial crops by 30 per cent. Eighty per cent of the produce would gradually reach the market in the next four or five weeks.
With the ban on payment for diesel with old currency from midnight of November 24, as much as 90 per cent of transactions would come to a standstill. In the past few days, there had been no purchase of perishables like vegetables, fruits and fish. The consumption of meat (poultry, sheep and goat) fell by 60 to 70 per cent, the letter claimed.
Prices of perishables fell by 50 per cent and that of commercial
crops by 30 p.c.
