On
the occasion of Gene Campaign’s 20th anniversary, a number of
experts from across India , came together to brainstorm on the policy changes
that were needed to make farming profitable and farmers prosperous.
Given below is the Charter of Demands that was formulated by the experts after
a daylong meeting.
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1.
The government must increase annual budgetary outlays for agriculture , by the
Union and state governments , to 10 per
cent of India's gross domestic product (against less than 1.5 per cent at
present) for the next ten years. Of these outlays, between 60 per cent and 70
per cent should be reserved for rain-fed farming. systems.
2.
Programs for food security must include nutrition security. Fortification of
common staple foods with micro-nutrients should receive attention. A
comprehensive program to establish homestead gardens should be promoted to
boost household nutrition.
3.
All programs providing food and nutrition support to children must be linked to
their being registered in school and receiving regular health checkups.
4.Credit
and insurance facilities should be provided to all those who cultivate land and
keep livestock (not merely to land owners) by revamping the kisan credit
card and making insurance more widespread.
5.
Given the growing feminization of agriculture in India, there an urgent need to
: enforce property rights of women and encourage joint ownership of productive
assets, incentivize women’s access to credit cards (through an interest rate
subvention of at least one per cent) , invest in agriculture equipment suitable
for women.
6. Restore and reorient agricultural extension
services to promote high yielding, diversified and ecologically sustainable
agriculture. This should be backed by research support and indigenous
knowledge.
7.
To reduce financial burden on small farmers, establish and incentivize
Smallholder Farmer Estates with common facilities and equipment, skill building
in joint estate management, bionutrition
and IPM , water conservation and management, micro irrigation, fertigation
, post-harvest value addition ,
packaging and collective marketing etc
8. Government policies must strengthen and
promote a broad genetic base for agriculture and encourage conservation of
agro-bio-diversity, to build resilience in farming
9.
Launch a comprehensive soil testing program across India to implement location specific measures to restore and
improve soil health.
10.
Develop a policy and research framework for the development of agriculture in
the mountainous regions of India.
11.
Launch a water literacy campaign at policy and implementation levels that demand management is the main strategy for
overcoming water scarcity.
Water
management must be used as an entry point to improve livelihoods through
productivity enhancement, value addition, and income generating activities
through market-led diversification.
12.
The public distribution system must be diversified and decentralized.
Government policies should encourage procurement from about 50 km from the
points of consumption and the PDS should include a range of locally produced
foods.
13.
Divert a part of fertilizer subsidies to public investments in agriculture
leading to capital formation for strengthening alternative farming systems,
especially climate resilient agriculture.
14.
Encourage and incentivize states that reduce reliance on chemical inputs in
agriculture and encourage bio-organic farming systems.
15.
All government policies must be geared towards enabling the Indian farmer to
become an entrepreneur. Only then can those who are in the riskiest profession
in the world be empowered, making farming profitable and farmers prosperous.
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New
Delhi
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