Skip to main content

Gujarat govt farm projects show bias against small, marginal, landless farmers

By Rajiv Shah 
A recent study on ascertaining the impact of watershed development project (WDP) and Krishi Mahotsav, the two important programmes by the Gujarat government to improve agricultural practices, suggest that they have benefited the rich farmers more than the marginal and poor farmers. The WDP is a flagship policy initiative for development of groundwater resources, especially in drought- and desert-prone districts in the state – has suggested that benefits of WDPs were confined mainly to landed households, despite a clear emphasis to include the landless as project beneficiaries. “Among the landed households, those with medium and large landholdings had a larger proportion of beneficiaries as compared to marginal and small farmers within a village”, the study, based on a sample of 6,458 beneficiaries, said.
Part of the chapter “High Growth Agriculture in Gujarat: An Enquiry into Inclusiveness and Sustainability”, by Amita Shah and Itishree Pattnaik, in the just-released book, “Growth or Development: Which Way is Gujarat Going”, the study says that the sample itself suggests Gujarat government bias towards the landed, as there were only two categories of beneficiaries – marginal and small farmers, and medium and large. The two categories accounted for 55 and 45 per cent of the total sample respectively. “This suggests some kind of bias towards relatively larger farmers to obtain benefits from the project—a phenomenon already observed in a number of studies pertaining to WDPs in Gujarat”, the study says. The survey was carried out in seven districts – Mehsana, Rajkot, Kutch, Patan, Panchmals, Valsad and Amreli.
The survey finds that “about 57 and 18 per cent of the beneficiary households reported having access to irrigation through wells and bore wells respectively. Access to these sources was found to be clearly tilted in favour of medium–large farmers; about 75 and 28 per cent of the medium-large farmers reported access to wells and bore wells respectively as compared to 42 and 11 per cent among the marginal-small farmers. While beneficiary farmers reported a substantial increase in crop yield, average net returns per hectare varied significantly across the seven districts covered by the survey, suggesting inter-regional variations.
The scholars say, “Irrigated area among the sample farmers increased by 461 ha during the study period. This works out to be about 0.32 ha per household having reported access to irrigation.” There was also “a massive expansion of wells (about 5,000) and bore/tube wells (about 2,620) since the beginning of 2000”. But this expansion of the irrigated area was “without corresponding improvement in water use efficiency”, which is likely to lead to unsustainable use of groundwater, often through competing extraction of water by farmers in the study villages.” The scholars suggest, only water intensive crops gained. “Cotton was found to be the most important crop accounting for about 42–43 per cent of the total cropped area during the kharif season for all the seven districts taken together. Similarly, wheat occupied between 89 and 96 per cent of the rabi area. The proportion has changed only marginally over the project period. Both the leading crops are water intensive, and grown in areas that are otherwise drought and desert prone as confirmed by the very selection of the village/micro watersheds to be covered under the project intervention.”
An effort was made by the authors to ascertain if the beneficiary farmers had adequate intake of some basic food items. “To our surprise about 32 and 23 per cent of the marginal-small and medium-large farmers respectively had reported in-sufficient intake of cereals. The insufficiency in milk was found to be in the range of 20-34 per cent and that in the case of pulses fruits and vegetables was found to be quite substantial, i.e. in the range of 60-80 per cent. Overall, the select evidence presented here suggest that whereas the project has brought significant benefits in terms of land productivity and income from crop cultivation, the benefits seem to have spread rather unevenly among farmers and districts with in the state”, the scholars say.

Krishi Mahotsav

The scholars found a similar picture emerging in their survey of the Krishi Mahotsav (KM), one of the most important initiatives by the Government of Gujarat to bridge the huge gap in extension services that has existed over a long period of time. Apart from good rainfall and groundwater development, accompanied by power sector reforms in the state, the KM programme, with almost universal outreach (covering all the villages) has been upheld as a critical factor driving Gujarat’s high growth rate in agriculture.
The survey covered 876 households spread over 15 districts in Gujarat – Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Panchmahals, Bharuch, Dangs, Valsad, Surat, Narmada, Navsari, Tapi, Amreli, Rajkot and Surendranagar. The survey covered districts having access to irrigation through canal and/or groundwater. Nearly two-thirds of the sample households covered by the survey had access to irrigation from one or more sources. An attempt was made to capture awareness, participation, and perceptions about a range of important aspects of the programme.
The scholars say, “It was heartening to find that close to 70 per cent of the sample households reported that they knew about KM. The proportion was as large as 80 per cent among the large farmers, which declined along with the decline in the landholding size. The level of awareness was fairly low among landless households, which of course, is not unexpected.”
A similar pattern was observed with respect to awareness about the Krishi Rath (or mobile van) having actually come to their village. “While 60 per cent of the respondents replied positively, the proportion declined along with landholding size. In terms of participation, about 52 per cent of the respondents reported having visited the Krishi Rath when it came to their village, the proportion varied from about 70 per cent among large farmers to nearly 60 and 50 per cent among medium and small-marginal farmers respectively. This suggests that almost half of the small–marginal farmers had not visited the van”, say the scholars.
They underline, “The small-marginal farmers may face constraints due to social hierarchies and thereby exclusion within the village community. The exclusion was further reflected in terms of the relatively low level of attendance in gram sabha organized during the KM and active participation thereof. The proportion of small–marginal farmers attending and participating in the gram sabha would be even smaller if we specifically look at the sample within this category of households. The evidence suggests that interaction of the respondents with the state officials as well as scientists was far less than those having reported awareness about the programme and visit to the Krishi Rath when it visited the respective villages.”
Pointing out that access to irrigation, besides landholding size, is yet another important divide with respective to the outreach of the programme, the scholars say, “The awareness and participation among sample households is significantly higher among those having access to irrigation as compared to those without irrigation. Obviously, landless households are excluded. The survey results also highlighted the fact that the programme is yet to make an inroad into actual dissemination of information and adoption following that.” On information on the extent to which farmers know about technologies, inputs, and subsidies available in the region, the scholars say, “The proportion of farmers having reported positive response to a range of questions is fairly low even among large farmers.”
“It was observed that out of the 578 farmers having irrigation at the time of the survey, 206 farmers, that is, 35 per cent reported increase in irrigation (this also includes those who did not have irrigation in the initial period). Of the 206 farmers, 97 farmers reported investment in tube wells as the main source of increase in irrigation, whereas 62 farmers reported canals as the main source for the increase. Only 39 farmers reported that the area under irrigation had increased due to increased groundwater table; the rest eight farmers mentioned other sources”, say the scholars, adding, “Given the fact that a large proportion of farmers have access to irrigation, cultivation of Bt cotton appeared to be widespread. About one-third of the sample farmers reported that they had cultivated the crop at least once in the last seven years.”

Comments

TRENDING

Eight years of empowering tribal communities through water initiatives in Chhattisgarh

By Gazala Paul*   In the heart of Chhattisgarh, amidst the echoes of tribal life, a transformative journey has unfolded over the past eight years. The Samerth organization has diligently worked to elevate the lives of indigenous communities in the Kawardha district through the project, "Enabling Baiga Community to access safe drinking water." 

Regretful: Kapil Dev retired not leaving Indian cricket with integrity he upheld

By Harsh Thakor  Kapil Dev scaled heights as an entertainer and a player upholding the spirit of the game almost unparalleled in his era. In his time he was cricket’s ultimate mascot of sportsmanship On his day Kapil could dazzle in all departments to turn the tempo of game in the manner of a Tsunami breaking in. He radiated r energy, at a level rarely scaled in his era on a cricket field. Few ever blended aggression with artistry so comprehenisively. Although fast medium, he could be as daunting with the ball as the very best, with his crafty outswinger, offcutter, slower ball and ball that kicked from a good length. Inspite of bowling on docile tracks on the subcontinent, Kapil had 434 scalps, with virtually no assistance. I can never forget how he obtained pace and movement on flat pancakes, trapping the great Vivian Richards in Front or getting Geoff Boycott or Zaheer Abbas caught behind. No paceman carried the workload of his team’s bowling attack on his shoulders in his eras muc

Martin Crowe played instrumental role in making New Zealand a force in world cricket

By Harsh Thakor* Late Martin Crowe was the perfect manifestation of how mere figures could not convey or do justice to the true merit of a batsman. Crowe was arguably the most complete  or majestic batsmen of his era or the ultimate embodiment of batting perfection, or the classical batsmen. He perished 7 years ago, due to a rare and aggressive form of cancer, follicular lymphoma, which originated in 2012. In September, we celebrated his 60th birthday but sadly he left for his heavenly abode.

How the slogan Jai Bhim gained momentum as movement of popularity and revolution

By Dr Kapilendra Das*  India is an incomprehensible plural country loaded with diversities of religions, castes, cultures, languages, dialects, tribes, societies, costumes, etc. The Indians have good manners/etiquette (decent social conduct, gesture, courtesy, politeness) that build healthy relationships and take them ahead to life. In many parts of India, in many situations, and on formal occasions, it is common for people of India to express and exchange respect, greetings, and salutation for which we people usually use words and phrases like- Namaskar, Namaste, Pranam, Ram Ram, Jai Ram ji, Jai Sriram, Good morning, shubha sakal, Radhe Radhe, Jai Bajarangabali, Jai Gopal, Jai Jai, Supravat, Good night, Shuvaratri, Jai Bhole, Salaam walekam, Walekam salaam, Radhaswami, Namo Buddhaya, Jai Bhim, Hello, and so on.

1982-83 Bombay textile strike played major role in shaping working class movement

By Harsh Thakor  On January 18th, 1982 the working class movement commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Textile Workers Strike that lasted for 18 months, till July 1983. It was landmark event that played a major role in shaping the working class movement. With more than 2.5 lakh workers from 65 textile mills joining in this strike for almost two years, this strike became one of the most significant strikes in terms of scale and duration All democrats should applaud the mill workers’ united battle, and their unflinching resilience an death defying courage continues to serve as a model for contemporary working-class movements. Many middle class persons harboured opinions that the Textile workers were pampered or were a labour aristocracy, ignorant of how they were denied wages to provide for basic necessities. The Great Bombay Textile Strike is notably one of the most defining movements in the working class struggles in Post-independent India. Bombay’s textile industry flourished in

Towards 2024: Time for ‘We the People of India’ to wake up before it is too late

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  It is Constitution Day once again! We, the people of India, gratefully remember 26 November 1949 when the Constitution of India was passed and adopted by the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly comprised women and men of distinction, who were able to represent the heart and soul of the people of India without fear or favour. They gave of their best, so that we may a visionary Constitution, which would be the mainstay for and of democracy in India!

Ceasefire a tactical victory for Palestinian resistance, protests intensify across globe

By Harsh Thakor*  The Zionist leadership and Netanyahu’s government were compelled to concede the defeat of their first attempt after almost 50 days of daily fighting in the Gaza Strip.  Netanyahu was forced to concede that he was unsuccessful in suppressing the Palestinian Resistance; and that the release of the prisoners was only plausible because they accepted Hamas’ terms.

Odisha leadership crisis deepens: CM engages retired babus to oversee depts' work

By Sudhansu R Das  Over decades, Odisha has lost much of its crop diversity, fertile agriculture land, water bodies, employment potential, handicraft and handloom skills etc. The state has failed to strike a balance between the urban and rural sector growth; this leads to the migration of villagers to the urban areas leading to collapse of the urban infrastructures and an acute labor shortage in rural areas.  A large number of educated, skilled and unskilled Odia people have migrated to other states for higher education, quality jobs and for earning livelihood which plummet the efficiency level of government departments. Utmost transparency in the recruitment and promotion in the state government departments will improve governance mechanisms in the state.  "No near and dear one approach" in governance mechanisms can only achieve inclusive growth for the state on payment basis. This is a moral hazard. When so many educated young people seek employment outside the

Massive tropical deforestation: Big finance's $307 billion go to forest-risk commodities

A note on report by Forests & Finance coalition -- Rainforest Action Network, TuK Indonesia, Profundo, Amazon Watch, Repórter Brasil, BankTrack, Sahabat Alam Malaysia and Friends of the Earth US: *** A new report released on ‘Finance Day’ at COP28 by the Forests & Finance Coalition , provides a comprehensive look into the role big finance plays in driving deforestation, biodiversity loss, climate change and human rights abuses in tropical forest regions. The report reveals that since the Paris Agreement, banks have pumped over $307 billion into high risk forestry and agriculture companies linked to tropical deforestation, proving that the policies of major global banks and investors are failing to prevent continued widespread forest and biodiversity loss.

20% of Indian businesses have no emission plan in place despite climate emergency: Report

By Jag Jivan   New research underlines urgent need for strategies and transition plans to combat climate change, remain successful and meet stakeholder expectations.