Saturday, March 03, 2007

agri universities...

ha!

No one expected the national budget to be such a stupid one. Headlines scream Advantage Farm Inc. It is truly suggestive of things happening here. Slowly, the Inc-s are going to take over the farm lands.

The small farmers can committ suicide. The marginal farmers can sell their land to the big farmers and may be to the corporates. Already, the corporates have started eating the dry lands (waste lands). Reliance and Co are into the retail chain.

Paddy cultivation is going down. The farmers want only money and so are happy to go for cash rich crops. Or they are prepared to use whatever prescribed for better yield. There is no fixed price for the produces. The markets determine everything. And now we have the online commodity exchange!

And the states are subtly inching towards GM rice without strictly following the bio-safety rules. The water wars are becoming acute. No national river policy in place. And the budget's thrust is on agriculture, aam admi. Pure politics.

Hope the government comes up with support structures to really reach the farmers and lift them up. Meanwhile, agriculture is a state subject. And the states will waste money like the water wasted by the farmers.

And TN Agri University has got Rs 50 crore. VC feels that they should have given 50 more. Two years ago, I spent time with few deans of the varsity. Except the extension guy, the other two easily accepted that they were working in the interests of the big farmers!

2 comments:

bhamsblog said...

when u say corporatisation u mean something like what happened in US.. the grapes of wrath kinda thing? i find there is so much i dont know about our farming community... putting aside the simplistic things of truant monsoons and debts and the vicious circle, where would u start your course correction? do let me know if there is some good literature i can lay my hands on..something pre vandana siva

Ranjitha said...

armageddon!

Stories From The Soul Town

There lies a magical land. Surrounded by the green ghats to the west, gurgling great rivers on the east, the valley with the very blue sky. A temple town of the tamils. Sitting on the dancing rock on the highland overlooking the valley, the writer procreates the lives of the people of this lesser known south west. Full of strange yet simple souls.