Survey on Agricultural Laws and Minimum Support Prices by Kisan Azadi Andolan Amravati

 

Survey on Agricultural Laws and Minimum Support

 Prices by Kisan Azadi Andolan Amravati

• 82.2 per cent farmers reject agriculture law

• 94 per cent farmers are in favor of implementation of Swaminathan Commission

• 95.5 per cent farmers want minimum support price (MSP) legal basis

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Kisan Azadi Andolan Amravati has conducted a survey of farmers since January 16 2021 on agricultural laws and minimum guaranteed prices. On June 5, 2020, the Central Government enacted three Agriculture Ordinances and passed in Parliament in September 2020. Farmers across the country are protesting against this law. More than 500 farmers' organizations from across the country came together and started agitation. In the last 100 days, in the bitter cold, these farmers' agitations have been going on for the repeal of agricultural laws. The survey was conducted to know the views of farmers in Maharashtra regarding this law. 1614 farmers from 34 districts of Maharashtra participated in it. Twelve questions were asked in this survey.

Question no. 1. Do you know about the three agricultural laws passed by the central government?

Of these, 89.3 per cent farmers said they were aware of agricultural laws. The agitation, which has been going on for 100 days, seems to have created awareness among the farmers about the agricultural law. With the current electronic and social media, it is easy to get information about the ongoing movement in the country.

On the question of whether agriculture laws are in the interest of farmers, 82.2 per cent farmers said that the three agricultural laws passed by the central government are not in the interest of farmers. Therefore, the ongoing farmers' movement across the country seems to be appropriate and expresses the concerns of the farmers. Most of the farmers do not feel that the agricultural laws brought by the central government are to their advantage.

On the question of whether the three agricultural laws passed by the central government should be repealed, 81.4 per cent of the farmers think that the three agricultural laws passed by the central government should be repealed. With only 18.6 per cent of farmers supporting the Agriculture Act, the majority of farmers are in favour of repealing three agricultural laws by the central government.

Swaminathan Commission Do you think the National Agriculture Commission should be implemented? The Swaminathan Commission, the National Commission for Agriculture, established in 2005, has not yet been implemented in the country. The present central government has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that the Swaminathan Commission cannot be implemented. In the present survey, 94 per cent farmers have expressed the view that the Swaminathan Commission should be implemented. This is a very important point in this survey. It is in the interest of the farmers of the country that the government should implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission.

When asked if they know about the minimum guaranteed price of agricultural commodities, 85.7 per cent of the farmers seem to be aware of the minimum guaranteed prices of agricultural commodities.

When asked if their produce gets guaranteed price, 89.7 per cent farmers explain that their produce does not get guaranteed price. This is the case with farmers in Maharashtra. According to the report of the Shanta Kumar Committee, only 6 per cent of the farmers in the country get the minimum guaranteed price. In order to increase the income of farmers, they need to get a minimum guarantee for their produce, but the quantity is small, the survey shows.

On the question of what is the price of your produce, 82.6 points. Six per cent farmers said that their produce gets less than the guaranteed price while 7.5 per cent farmers said that their produce gets guaranteed price announced by the government. On the other hand, 4.3 per cent farmers said that their produce fetched more than the guaranteed price. This suggests that the survey report of the Shanta Kumar Committee is also applicable in Maharashtra.

Doordarshan Radio Newspapers are a useful source of information from the point of view of farmers. 40.2 per cent of the people get the guarantee information through this medium while 30.1 per cent of the farmers get the guarantee information from the Agricultural Produce Market Committee.

86.1 per cent farmers have answered in the affirmative to the question whether the guarantee formula of 50 per cent profit plus 50 per cent production cost suggested by the Swaminathan Commission is correct. From this, the formula of guarantee suggested by the Swaminathan Commission is correct.

61.4 per cent farmers are positive and 38.6 per cent are unaware of the government's guarantee for every commodity.

On the question of whether private companies will give guarantees to farmers, 89.9 per cent farmers have expressed negativity. The survey shows that it is not in the interest of farmers to allow private companies to buy farm produce under the agriculture laws introduced by the central government.

95.5 per cent farmers are positive on the question of whether a law should be enacted to ensure minimum support prices (MSP) for agricultural commodities. This is an important demand in today's farmers' movement. Farmers will not be able to get out of the financial crisis unless there is a law to get minimum guaranteed prices for agricultural commodities.

Researchers:

• Dr.Mahendra V.Mete

• Dr.Praful Gudadhe

• Prof.Sahebrao Vidhale

• Shri. Baba Bhakare