Farming is a remunerative vocation and not a loss-making one as is being viewed by many today, said District Agricultural Technology & Transfer (DATT) Centre director R Uma Reddy.
He favours a scientific approach to farming besides government’s focus on extension services for turning farming into a viable vocation.
“If the government wishes, it can create a network at the village level and help the farmers,” he pointed out. The government should help farmers form broad-based cooperative societies at the village level comprising all the farmers. The cooperative societies should directly be given fertilizers, seed and other inputs, which in turn could be distributed among the members. “This will ensure elimination of middlemen who are exploiting the farmers,” Mr Uma Reddy said.
Open sale, godowns The societies should be entrusted with the job of procuring all the produce of its members and selling it in the market on a mass scale. The government should construct godowns in every village so that the societies could stock their produce and release the same into the market as and when required. “Extension services are not up to the mark now. The farmers are not aware about the subsidies and other welfare measures. Agricultural officers should visit every society and educate members on soil, crop, input subsidies, marketing facilities among others,” the DATT centre director opined.
According to him, the network of societies would not only help the farmers individually, but the government and banks as well. The farmers could get loans at a time and banks could recover them
through the societies easily. Similarly, in case of crop damage, the government could get the assessment done easily.
Mechanisation suggested In the backdrop of labour shortage, Dr R Uma Reddy said the farmers need to opt for mechanisation urgently. The latest machines cost a lot, which an individual farmer could not afford. However, a
society could pool in money and buy farm machinery, which could also be given on hire to farmers, he pointed out.
