P.M. Salimath, Vice-Chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur (UAS-R), has opined that the Green Revolution did not help farmers much though it played a crucial role in meeting the country’s food security goals. He was speaking at a workshop “Yuvakara Nade Krishiya Kade” (Youth March towards Agriculture) at the University Auditorium here on Thursday. The two-day event was organised by UAS-R, Department of Agriculture and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.
“The farming sector has undergone fundamental transformations with tremendous technological advancements and innovations that have helped increase in productivity. However, the fruits of these advancements did not reach the farmers and transform their lives for the better. The Green Revolution did play a decisive role in addressing the country’s food security issues, considering the increase in foodgrain production from 50 million tonnes in the 1940s to 240 million tonnes now. However, it unfortunately failed to address the deteriorating financial conditions of the farmers,” he said.
Corporate exploitation
Chamarasa Malipatil, State President of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, slammed successive governments for bending to the pressures of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and facilitating multinational corporations in the farm sector to over-exploit farmers in the country.
“It is the WTO agreement that led to agrarian crisis and resultant farmers’ suicides in the country. By signing the treaty, India opened its gates for multinational corporations to exploit farmers by selling seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, machinery and other farm inputs at higher prices to them. Rising cost of cultivation caused by escalation of input prices and falling prices of outputs is increasingly pushing farmers away from the sector. Earlier, only those farmers from rain-fed areas used to migrate to cities in search of livelihoods during droughts. But, now even farmers from the irrigation belt are migrating in large numbers,” he said.
He stressed the need to address the deepening farm crisis and turn the sector into profit-making for farmers so that the migrated farmers could come back to the profession.
Hanumanagwoda Belagurki, member of Agriculture Price Commission, held corporate-driven agriculture policies and concentration on technologies and researches useless to farmers responsible for the deepening agrarian crisis.
B.V. Patil, former Vice-Chancellor and present Director of Education; T. Sheshadri, Director of Research, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore; B.S. Janagowdar, Director of Research, University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad; T.H. Gowda, Director of Extension, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot; M. Kiran Kumar, Joint Director, Department of Agriculture, and others were present.
