Surendranagar/Rajkot/Morbi: Mahesh Shapar, in his early twenties, dropped out after high school. He saw no reason to invest time and money in further studies because his father owned farmland and knew that this was where his future lay. In the warmth of the winter sun, Mahesh sits guarding his stretch of farmland along the Surendranagar-Ahmedabad highway, occasionally distracted by the barrage of notifications on his mobile phone.
His father’s 12-acre farm is one of the few large plots in their village, and since the family also owns a tractor and has its own borewell for irrigation, it is counted among the prosperous farming families in Shapar village in Sayla taluka of Surendranagar district. from Gujarat. “We get by comfortably…,” he says of the farm’s income. Their products – cotton, fennel and maize – have brought in decent money this year. “We get good money during elections. This year, we have sold cotton at around ₹1,200 per quintal, whereas last year the price was between ₹1,000 to ₹1,050. This is the government fixed price (₹1,200) but we rarely get it,” he says.
What bothers him the most is the unstable power supply in the area. “We have a schedule; one week we have about six hours of supply during the day and the next it’s at night. We are used to it, but it would be better if we had deliveries 24 hours a day,” he says.
Across the highway in Baldana village, also in Surendranagar, Ramneek Bhai, who grows fennel and cotton on his three-acre farm, says the government has done its bit by providing Narmada water for irrigation. But it also raises the power situation as a challenge. “If a farmer misses a supply, there is no way to water the farm. But Narmada has made a huge difference in our lives and we can only thank Modi ji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) for that,” he says.
Anger among the farming community in Surendranagar, as in other parts of Saurashtra, over water and power shortages and delays in compensation for losses due to bad weather in 2016 saw the BJP’s electoral fortunes take a beating in the region. Of the 48 Assembly seats in Saurashtra, the Congress won 30. This time, the government moved quickly to announce compensation for farmers when excessive rains left crops damaged and growers distressed.
In October, the state government announced an agricultural relief package for farmers in the four districts of Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagadh and Porbandar, which would provide compensation of ₹13,000 per hectare for losses due to excessive rain.
Irritation, but no anger
These remedial measures have not gone unnoticed, even as the benefits — waiver of power and farm loans — promised by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress have piqued curiosity. There’s a wish list that farmers in the state have, along with a litany of complaints.
But the sense from across the farmland is that there is no simmering anger that could pose a threat to the incumbent government – despite concerns raised by some groups.
“This is the state that produces the largest amount of groundnut, around 40-45 thousand metric tonnes. When the rain spoils the crops, you can imagine the extent of the losses. The government was aware of the implications of the farmers’ unresolved issues, so they were quick to compensate, but there are inherent problems that need attention. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (a crop insurance scheme introduced in 2016) to compensate for crop losses due to natural causes has been quietly withdrawn,” says Dilipbhai Sakhiya of the Rajkot Kisan Sangh.
While Sakhiya acknowledges that crop rewards have increased and the energy and water situation has improved significantly in some districts, Sakhiya says he is concerned about power supply disparities, rising fuel prices and poor food crop yields. “The government says, ‘Look, we are giving you more for cotton and groundnut’, but look at how much we are paying for fertilizers after subsidy and for diesel. You have to check the prices of diesel, gold and civil servant allowances 10 years ago and compare that to what we are getting paid for the incalculable labor we put into growing food and see how little has changed for our lot,” he says.
The state government buys crops like groundnut, pulses, gram, mustard and cotton at minimum support price (MSP). In Morbi villages, farmers on the periphery have similar complaints. It is said that while cotton prices are soaring in the international market, farmers are unable to negotiate and are often forced to sell at prices set by ‘vyaparis’ (traders).
“We can’t hold our shares and bargain, we need money. So, despite MSPs and mandis, we are often at the mercy of Vyaparis. There is a need to ensure transparent implementation of MSP,” says Laxmanbhai, a resident of Koyli village in Morbi.
But the problems are nowhere near as pronounced as they were five years ago. A government official said that despite the complaints, the situation was relatively calm as officials on the ground were urged to act cautiously as reports poured in of large tracts of groundnuts being floated.
“Excessive rains have caused widespread damage and groundnut farmers have faced losses in Gir Somnath, Junagadh, Ameli, Surendranagar, Jamnagar and Porbandar, but this time there has been no delay in providing relief,” he says, declining to be named.
According to information provided by the state government, over 5.7 million farmers in Gujarat have received assistance worth ₹12,565 crore through direct benefit transfers in the last three years as part of the Prime Minister’s Kisan Nidhi, and the government’s support has increased agricultural income. from ₹ 9,000 crore to $2,05,000 crore in the last two decades.
The government hopes that this increase in revenue will tip the scales in its favour. “In the last five years, the Gujarat government has ensured stable income to farmers after purchasing ₹45.13 crore metric tonnes of grain in MSP, which was worth ₹22,596 crore from 2.4 lakh farmers in the state. In the last two decades, electricity connections have increased from 733,000 to 1,345,267 and compensation has increased from 7.5% to 15% for farmers who allow transmission lines and transmission towers to be installed on their fields. Similarly, a 69,000 km long canal system was laid across the state for irrigation purposes. All this led to a significant increase in the production of fruits, vegetables and spices,” says the official.
The BJP government’s outreach towards the farming community was designed to prevent any push for promises made by opposition parties like the AAP, which announced a ₹2,000 loan waiver for farmers, free electricity for 12 hours during the day. , purchase of crops from SMEs and compensation of ₹20,000 per acre of land in case of crop failure. The party relies on targeted ads and snippets transmitted through social media platforms.
