The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial
nightshade Solanum tuberosum L.
The word "potato" may refer either to
the plant itself or the edible tuber. It is the world's fourth-largest food
crop, following maize, wheat, and rice.
The news of a farmer suicide in the AAP rally the Delhi CM proceeding
with the meeting hit the headlines, ridiculed by many !!
Catastrophes
are nothing new to mankind ! ~they are called ‘Act of God’ too !! Earthquake struck
in our neighbour land ~precious human lives have been lost – the count is going
up – and a couple of days after the event, the survivors are also
struggling wanting expeditious relief. Some state that
disasters are only likely to get worse
in the future, owing to a combination of climate change,
population growth, urbanization, environmental degradation, and violence. In someways, tremors don't kill people.
Buildings do. We get to hear this often from seismologists each and every time
a deadly quake strikes ~sadly, it has become horrifically relevant again on
25.4.2015, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal, leaving at least 4,000
dead (and counting). It is stated that earthquakes are
much, much deadlier in places where buildings are poorly constructed,
unreinforced, and not designed to withstand shaking. Kathmandu, Nepal, was a
gruesome example.
There have been catastrophes like floods, earthquakes and
then there have been famines. Centuries ago, there reportedly was a big famine during
Tughlaq dynasty. From 1913, Major Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st
Marquess of Willingdon held gubernatorial and viceregal offices throughout the
British Empire, starting with the governorship of Bombay and then the
governorship of Madras, before he was in 1926 appointed as Canadian governor
general by the King. In 1917, the year
before Willingdon's resignation of the governorship, a severe famine broke out
in the Kheda region of the Bombay Presidency, still, the Govt. insisted that tax not only be paid but
also implemented a 23% increase to the levies to take effect that year.
In Independent
India, in 1961 India was on the brink of mass famine. Borlaug was invited to
India by the adviser to the Indian minister of agriculture M. S. Swaminathan.
Despite bureaucratic hurdles imposed by India's grain monopolies, the Ford
Foundation and Indian government collaborated import wheat seed from CIMMYT.
Punjab was selected by the Indian government to be the first site to try the
new crops because of its reliable water supply and a history of agricultural
success. India began its own Green Revolution program of plant breeding,
irrigation development, and financing of agrochemicals.
It is not
always disaster that worry people – perhaps, sometimes bountiful crops too !!!
.... at a time when the plight of farmers for crop loss due to unseasonal rain
seems to have become the biggest concern for the Centre, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has written to finance minister
Arun Jaitley recently to rescue farmers of the state, who are faced with sliding
potato prices due to a bumper crop this season.
Listing the steps already taken by the
Bengal government to ensure that the record 1,20,000 metric tonne yield in the
country's second largest potato growing state after UP fetches a fair price,
the CM has urged the Centre to take specific measures to ensure that the
farmers don't lose out due to a fall in prices. Banerjee, in her second letter
to Jaitley, after the one she wrote on April 9, said the state has taken steps
like directly procuring potato from farmers for supplying to ICDS and midday
meal beneficiaries, providing transport subsidy for inter-state movement of
potato by the railways and subsidy for exporting potato from the Calcutta
port.“The state has also requested to the Centre on April 9, for procurement of
1 lakh metric tonne potato from Bengal through central government agencies,“
the latest letter said.
In the letter, the CM asked the finance
minister to waive loans taken by potato farmers and also allow fresh loans for
the kharif crop. “It is estimated that about 4.13 lakh potato growers have
taken loans from commercial banks, regionalrural banks and cooperative banks.
Considering much lower realization of prices of potato causing economic
hardship to farmers it is requested that crop loans should be waived by the
commercial, RRB and cooperative banks in Bengal. Jaitley may advise the
financial banks and Nabard to initiate immediate steps in consultation with the
state government to waive the loans and at the same advance fresh loans to them
so that farmers may be able to prepare themselves for kharif crop,“ the letter
said. [source Times of India]
Away
in Chandigarh, last month, the potato prices touched an almost all-time low in
the market, as farmers were crying for
help. In the wholesale market, the price of potatoes came down to Rs 200 per quintal. Last year, it was
about Rs 1,000 per quintal. The rate of potato seed also went down to Rs 500-600 per quintal where as during
the corresponding period last year, it was in the range of Rs 1,200-1,500 per
quintal. Punjab is one of the leading potato seed producers in the country. In
fact, 80 per cent of potato produced in Punjab goes as seed to other states
such as West Bengal and the remaining goes to the open market for sale.
“Cold
store owners are reluctant to stock potatoes in their stores because they fear
that farmers would not return to reclaim it due to the fall in the prices,”
said a leading potato grower from Jalandhar.
It is stated that last time, farmers got a good return. So, they
increased the area under potato crop this year in almost all potato-growing
states, thus creating a glut in the national market. To add to it, the yield
went up by 15% this year compared to last year, he said. Besides Punjab, West
Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have good yields, almost 20% more than last year. Even
Pakistan, which imported a substantial stock of potatoes from India last year,
has a bumper crop this time. "In fact, Pakistan is exporting potatoes to
Afghanistan and other adjoining countries this year. Russia, which used to buy
some stock earlier, has stopped it due to a big fall in the value of their
currency," .....
So
good crops have this time ruined the farmers !!
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
28th
April 2015.
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