Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Agrarian policy must place small farmers at the centre’

Bangalore: The National Policy for Farmers recently released by the Union Government “is a policy neither by or for farmers,” said environmental activist Vandana Shiva at a lecture on the National Policy for Farmers, organised by the Institute of Agricultural Technology here on Friday.

“You would imagine that a policy for farmers would reflect concern for the agrarian crisis and the farmer suicides which will likely reach 200,000 this year. But instead, the policy appears to view small farmers as a problem and their livelihood as non-viable. India’s strength lies in small farmers, who make up for 60 per cent of agriculturalists,” she said.

Dr. Shiva said that the policy was based on a “secondary revolution” which essentially refers to genetically engineered seeds. “The new policy is pushing for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The policy even contains a section on GMOs, making it out to be an entire system of production.” The districts with the highest suicides also happen to be those where genetically modified Bt cotton seeds were most extensively used, she cautioned.

“The ingredients of an agrarian policy must place small farmers at the centre, and see biodiversity as the real capital, especially in the context of climate change,” she said.

“The agrarian crisis cannot be ignored much longer, and 600 million people cannot be marginalised and made to lose land and lives. Organic farming – or low cost, ecological farming – is poised to come up in a big way in the county, she said. “Organic farming is not something we have imported from the West as is the common misconception. The global organic movement in fact took Indian farming practices and converted them into a contemporary scientific text.”

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