Agriculture – Still in NO MAN’s Land – means no farmers for the future!

After a crippling accident in 2011, (as a result of a high speed convoy of a Cabinet Minister of Justice in the MR Government skidding into me) I had to give up my full time job as a farmer, and I effectively lost everything I had built up to that point, and had to start again in a series of new ventures, one of which is to update this blog in matters of the day that may lead if recommendations are taken up, to improve the quality of life of the people who live in Sri Lanka.

Knowing the difficulty I faced in growing with first-hand experience, I allowed a neighborhood farmer and his wife, Maddu and Wife Pictured here, to work my land in Raja Ela, Hingurakgoda, while I still work my farm in Godagama, Meegoda, under enormous odds battling the poor human resource I have to contend with.

As a one stop shop, when I was farming, where I personally planted my crops, maintained them and when I had my harvest, I transported personally, and sold direct to the ultimate consumer, driving the pick-up truck around Colombo into my consumers’ homes. This was the only way to ensure some form of financial security. Not surprisingly this back braking work of a unique nature, is not one I have encountered ANYONE following in my footsteps or of anyone who preceded me in this comprehensive activity.

If the reader wants to see the evidence of that era (2004-2011) please check my blogs www.rajaratarala.blogspot.com & www.villagerinsrilanka.blogspot.com for my thoughts, ideas, and frustrations in that task.

NOTHING HAS CHANGED either then (70years ago), or now in 2018, when one would at least hope that our farmers are in a better position than they were in the past! Simply put Governments of the past 70 years have failed the farming community very badly.

THE POLICY PROPOSAL

THE GRIM REALITY – HELP ONLY THE LONG TERM FARMER WITH UNDER 5 ACRES UNDER CULTIVATION

The number of people with total livelihood from farming is a fraction of people who receive the fertilizer subsidy, or who receive the Rs5,000 an acre payment. The only way to asses this is to look at each household income, to ascertain need. The Grama Niladari can do this, butthey are not even properly equipped to keep this information on a lap top let alone a TAB. In order to expedite this exercise only this official can practically provide the data without delay.

From a mere look at my neighborhood in Ratmale a farming village, and Raja Ela, Hingurakgoda, a Colony settled village, I will place an educated guess that about 20% of households have 75% or more of their household income from Agriculture. It is these Households which are in need and who MUST be helped immediately. By how much or by what means is up to the powers, but I suggest a subsidy of Rs10K a month per household for one year. (it may have 2 to 8 people per household) These people (sometimes both husband and wife work on the land) have been in farming for at least 20 years full time, if not more, and cannot do anything else at this stage, and so MUST be recognized and appreciated.

The average village or rural household, has a teacher, or postman, or policeman, shop worker, three wheeler driver, forces personnel, government servant, pharmaceutical rep, agricultural pesticide rep, teacher, kasippu distiller, poacher, shop worker etc. no wonder there are NO takers for farming positions anyway!

Please remember that 5 times more people are helped NOW that NEED the help and so the cost is so much higher, but it is POLITICS and NOT NEED that determine today’s spreading of the largesse of fertilizer subsidy or cash payment. The need for votes outweighs the need to do real justice to the needy.

The GN should NOT be told why this information is needed, otherwise, they being political animals, are not concerned about livelihood of the people they are responsible for, and will skew the data, so that only their friends are helped, and others with real need are ignored. Of course the information supplied can be audited to ascertain its reliability, with a degree of statistical accuracy.

Center for Poverty Analysis writes reports ad nauseam about who is poor and malnourished and what is needed, but no blanket short term fix is even suggested as they are unable to specifically identify who the real poor are!

We can go a long way in helping this segment of the population, who I estimate to be at most 8% of Households in Sri Lanka. (By the way I am merely concentrating on farmer families who are the working destitute only and many may be in debt too!)

We can assist the truly needy under this plan, enabling debt repayment, financial counseling of people receiving, while noting this is temporary relief to get them back on their feet and work with them to enable them to make better decisions in order to get them out of their present predicament. IT IS NOT LIKE SAMURDI which has become a PERMANENT ENTITLEMENT, where only 25% of recipients would be categorized as the truly needy.

OTHER MATTERS THAT NEED TO PUT IN PLACE – LONG TERM

I will not go into some of the structural changes necessary today, in order to make agriculture more efficient, effectively in ownership and tenant farming to remove marginal farmers from being enslaved, (forced to live on the land for fear of losing it) to take account of modern technology. I have previously blogged about that, and will refine the proposed policy changes I recommend to take account of the labor shortages in the rural areas, as it pertains to youth unwilling to pursue farming as a career, climate change as the new normal that requires a further degree of refinement and insurance.

The proposal concetrates on the immediate relief necessary NOT TO dissuade existing agricultural workers, from giving up, adding to the Food Security Issue.

A recent plaster patch was offered by the state in promising Rs500/50kg fertilizer bag to farmers of Paddy and Rs1500/50kg of other crops, subject to a maximum and with a whole series of form filling and authorization from local worthies in order to receive this subsidy.

This was to replace the Rs5,000 per acre subsidy per Season (two seasons) paid direct to the Bank accounts of these farmers, which was replaced. That was due to the recent shortage of fertilizer caused by the failure of the Public Servants / Politicians to have the required quantity of fertilizer in the stores at the time of need. The Farmer associations therefore AGITATED for its removal and replacement with the subsidized fertilizer.

This was pointed out as being ONE of the reasons for the current government losing support of the voters at the recent elections, but that fact has NOT been substantiated, and if the debate at a recent Cabinet Meeting is anything to go by where there was a bitter division between one faction favoring a cash payment and another favoring a subsidy, illustrates how BANKRUPT the cabinet ministers are as they are merely arguing about whether to put sultanas or raisins in a man’s cake before giving it, when the man is simply eating plain rice, down from three times a day to twice!

They have simply failed to acknowledge the complete breakdown of the food chain where the producer (the farmer) receives a fair shake in the food chain, dominated by traders. This lack of understanding of the basics by those in power, while paying lip service pretending they fully understand the pain farmers undergo, is the pinnacle of this subterfuge that has taken place throughout our history and there is still NO fundamental change to that. It goes without saying that as part of the long term solution is the whole aspect of the power of traders, and minimizing the post-harvest losses.

An additional Jonah in the pack are the Farmers Association Leaders who for want of their personal brand, do not truly represent the farmers’ needs, and only pretend they are truly representative as they are merely pawns of political parties who have a political agenda, and not an immediate agenda to give relief to the farmers in distress. So the Government yet again is simply providing succor to this supposed need, instead of digging deep to the core of the problem.

In short we are dealing with a topic where both the State Participants, as in the Government and the Public Servants in this field, have no direct understanding of the problem. To add to this the Department of Census & Statistics has been unable to properly asses the households in dire need, who are farmers effectively with 75% +  of their income from Agriculture. So without data, no one has been able to opine on this sensitive and critical issue that faces the nation. Food Shortages, mass de camping from Agriculture is imminent, unless a suggestion such as mine is immediately implemented.

This has nothing to do with capitalism, socialism or any other ism. Developed Countries subsidize their farmers far more than we do. WE don’t have unlimited resources to subsidize farmers, who amount to a far higher proportion of people than in developed countries, but we must address the extreme ends of this issue.

CONCLUSION

This proposal can immediately give relief without busting the Treasury, and could actually reduce the present cost, as those in this payment will not receive Samurdhi, and those outside will not receive a subsidy, as they simply don’t need it to survive, and should carry out practices to become more efficient, by either consolidating holdings or using more efficient means of agriculture, which the segment I have selected to assist will find hard to do out of practice and lack of thinking skills, and mired in the vicious cycle of poverty, who have to sell their produce to anyone who offers, knowing their plight and take advantage of their dilemma and penury to enrich their greed. (aka Money Lenders)

Don’t forget it is this very segment of population that has been forced to take out high interest debt to local money lenders, as they have NO other means to raise funds, adding to their plight. They are the forgotten RANAVIRUS of our society who through thick and thin war and peace have grown the food that has fed the nation and the NATION OWES A DEBT as much as it owes to the soldiers who fought the war, if not more, but who have been singularly ignored.

I know so many in this category and my admiration for their fortitude knows no limits, I just wish I could do more for these people than I do.