THE agrarian sector should take steps to increase production and improve productivity to tackle the agrarian crisis, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member S Ramachandran Pillai has said.

He also said the sector required more investments, manpower and latest technologies to make it profitable.

“How to take forward the land reform undertaken till now is the task before us. How to make use of the government in Kerala at present, which is sympathetic to us? Unlike the other agriculture movements in other states, Kerala’s agrarian movement has a twin task. Along with being a part of the movement at an all India level against the anti-people policies, we must be able to intervene to increase production and productivity of Kerala’s agriculture so that Kerala’s agriculture sector makes a giant leap,” he said.

He was inaugurating the 26th state conference of the Kerala Karshaka Sangham.

Pointing out that crop productivity was below the national average in Kerala except for rubber, he said that land is moving away from agriculture and a large area of agriculture land is fallow. From a means of production, agriculture land is becoming a commodity. It is being treated as a commodity for speculative profiteering. This is a serious situation. Alienation of land is taking place. No new investments are coming in the land. Public investment is not there due to many reasons. Similarly, private investment is also absent in agriculture in Kerala. Investment is paramount in increasing production and productivity, he said adding that benefits and progress in science and technology are not reaching Kerala’s agriculture.

“According to the economic survey, agriculture is the primary source of income for only 27 per cent of the total population in Kerala, whereas it is above 60 per cent in other states," he said.

Except for some isolated examples of very few entrepreneurs, the new generation is not entering the agriculture sector. This is because agriculture is not profitable. In addition, not enough agriculture workers are available. Labour is also moving away from agriculture. 

“On the one hand, the cost of production is increasing. And the price of agriculture produces is not increasing compared to the cost of production. The prices are fluctuating as well as falling. This increase in the cost of production is a result of government policies. The prices are falling also as a result of the government policies,” he said adding that this was forcing farmers to sell the land. Farmers are forced to sell cattle. The farmer is forced to take loans to continue in farming. And he is not able to repay the loans as farming has become non-viable. And loans mount. It is in this context the farmer suicides are on a rise. Struggles – both small and big – are taking place against these policies in various states across the country, he pointed out.

Today’s India is witnessing an awakening by the farmers against these policies of the government. That is the background we are at now. The kisan movement of Kerala must take an active role in this fight against anti-agrarian policies of the government. We have to change these anti-people policies. It is only with the participation and intervention of Kerala’s agrarian movement that this can become a reality.

The agrarian movement in Kerala has made giant leaps. We have been able to bring changes in agrarian relations to benefit the majority. We have been able to bring down the feudal agrarian practices and establish new agrarian relations. The historic land reforms are a part of this. No other state in the country can claim this.

Kerala gave land to the tillers. It is estimated that about 28 lakh farmers benefitted from this. Over five lakh hutment dwellers were given land for houses.  

“From a means of livelihood, the land has become a commodity in Kerala and the wide stretches of fallow land are a proof of it. Apart from stray entrepreneurs, nobody is employing innovating farming methods and many farmers have no idea about the kind of latest equipment that can make their occupation hassle-free. We have been compensating for the shortage in manpower using guest labourers, but the possibilities of mechanisation are yet to be explored,” he said.

He said the way in which global warming is affecting the crops in ghat sectors and coastal belts should be studied. “In Kerala, the biggest issue lies in the volume of farmland. Here we have small patches of land, and size along with irrigation issues has been affecting the growth of the sector. During the last couple of years, we have seen back-to-back floods, cyclones, landslips and drought-like situation and we should learn to tackle all these adverse elements," he said.

SRP said the new generation should adopt scientific and mechanised farming practices to make agriculture pleasant. There is no co-ordination between agriculture, veterinary, fisheries and universities.

Today world over, people are agitating. The capitalist economic system and the new economic policies put forward by it are facing acute challenges. As a result of this, the lives of people are adversely affected. Across the world, various struggles are taking place as a response to these challenges. These struggles have participation from the working class, agriculture workers, farmers, middle class, students, youth, women among others. And also there are attempts from the capitalist forces to crush these struggles.

Proponents and leaders of this capitalist forces are trying to take an extremely right wing approach towards these struggles with an aim to derail and dilute these struggles, SRP said adding that hitherto history has shown that whenever capitalism faced challenges, it has taken a right-wing approach to tackle it.

The Narendra Modi government that has come to power in India is trying to implement these neo-liberal policies and impose its communal agenda. It is attempting to hamper the rights of the people of India.

The neoliberal economic policies practised by the Modi government have aggravated the agrarian crisis in India. Agriculture was profitable for a considerable section of farmers. But, the new economic policies have worsened the condition of farmers.

The policies adopted by the government that came into power after independence was extremely faulty. We were a country which was dependent on agriculture. The industry was weak. The infrastructure needed improvement. Education and healthcare were absent. All these needed improvements and massive investments. Where will we find funds? We needed a strong agriculture sector for this. But the government adopted a policy that would depend on the minority rich to develop the country into a modern state. This minority was landlords and industrialists. The government decided to depend on them to develop and modernise the agrarian sector. The All India Kisan Sabha opposed this approach very strongly. This approach by the government is the reason behind the crisis.

The approach was not to provide land and resources to these poor and marginalised farmers so that their productive forces could be unleashed. This was the starting point of all the crisis the country is facing. The agrarian and industrial crisis that the country faced subsequently is a result of this. The economic crisis is a result of this. 

Even now, the government is taking steps to appease the rich sections of the society. Government interventions have been limited. Attempts were made to expand the irrigation network. Attempts were made to enhance power supply to the agriculture sector. There were also attempts to provide farm equipment and subsidy to the farmers. The government was also ready to make investments in science and technological development. Before the new economic policies were introduced attempts were made to protect the country’s agrarian sector by imposing barriers for import of agrarian products. Import duties were hiked. But the real beneficiaries of these policies were the richer sections of the country. That was the intent of the government. Protect the landlords and feudal sections. Grow a new rich section of the society. This was the policy adopted till the 90s after independence.

And after that, the government adopted a new approach, which helped develop a rich class in all sectors. The government has gone back from all its social commitments, investments and protectionist practices. And as a result, the country’s economy and its agrarian sector are in deep crisis. Agriculture has become non-viable for the majority of the farmers. This distress is not a natural process, but a result of the conscious effort of the government. We have experience of many nations from across the world. For the growth of capitalism and the rich, the vast majority of society has been sacrificed.