Fielding good: Sops and crops on poll-eve

• Farm Income Insurance scheme: Launched as a pilot project in 20 districts in the current rabi season, it protects farmers against drops in the yield and MSP for a nominal premium. It will soon cover 17 states.

• Lower interest rates: Last year, the government slashed interest rates on farmers’ loans upto Rs 50,000 to 9 per cent from 14-18 per cent. Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh has hinted this might come down further to 8.5 per cent.

• Private stake: Individual players can now procure rice and wheat for export and build storage and infrastructural facilities.

• National Kisan Commission: The body will plan, coordinate and frame policies for farmers.

• MSP hike: The minimum support price for sugarcane formally rose from Rs 64.50 to Rs 73/quintal. The Sugar Mills Association has said it can’t pay the hiked price. The farmers are waiting and watching.

• Krishi Call Centres: A toll-free number will allow farmers to access eight nodal centres for agricultural advice round-the-clock.

• Krishi channels: A 24-hour exclusive Krishi channel on both television and radio. Twenty-six more half-hour slots on Doordarshan’s regional transponders. FM programmes to start from February.

RAJASTHAN

It’s a rare moment for the farmers of Rajasthan: Four years of severe drought now history, a bumper rabi crop waiting to be harvested, and a shower of sops from a new government.

Taking off from its manifesto, the BJP’s floor-the-farmer campaign centres around drought, water and power. Its promise of establishing a Rs 175-crore farmer welfare fund and a Rs 250-crore farmer assistance fund are still up in the air, but Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s 100-day Action Plan reaches even higher. Consider these:

• 14 hours of power a day, including eight hours during the rabi season

• 20,000 new power connections (the Gehlot government provided just 5,000)

• Repair/replacement of a burnt-out transformer within 72 hours

• Road links for 737 villages

• 15,000 hectares of additional farming land under irrigation

• 1 lakh kisan credit cards

• Crop insurance

More than euphoria, though, the promises have generated scepticism at the ground level. ‘‘They all do this,’’ says a cynical Rampal Singh Chaudhary, general secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (Rajasthan). ‘‘All their strategies are (manufactured) just to take them from one election to the other. There are no long-term solutions to real problems like recurring droughts. We need water management policies, not free flow of water for short durations.’’

MAHARASHTRA

The average farmer in Maharashtra may be worrying about how to make ends meet, but the Democratic Front government would rather talk empowerment with agri-knowledge kiosks, a virtual varsity, marketing campaigns and technology disseminations. Far more potent, though, is the offer of agriculture-related employment for nearly a lakh of people in 2004.

Also announced: Expanded crop insurance, promotion of organic farming and employment potential in agriculture, the Maharashtra Agricultural and Horticultural Information and Technology Initiative, agricultural marketing campaign, technology dissemination for resource poor farmers and the Maharashtra Agricultural Planning and Development Council. The total outlay: Rs 964.25 crore.

‘‘Since agriculture in Maharashtra is rainfed, the only short-term option is to cover the 10 million farmers in the state under the expanded crop insurance scheme,’’ said Agriculture Minister Govindrao Adik. Scared by the possible bills — Rs 923 crore in annual premium and a projected Rs 462 crore in compensation — the state is restricting coverage to small and marginal farmers at the moment. The tab: Rs 240 crore in premium and Rs 134 crore in compensation.

Marginal farmer Hanumant Nanoji Shinde of Marathwada is concerned with a much smaller figure: Rs 2.30 lakh, the total of his debts. ‘‘When crop after crop fails and my debts pile up, will new technology help? I need rain and irrigated water,’’ he said.

Alongside, the state continues the Shiv Sena-BJP policy of waiving 50 per cent of the power charges for farmers in rural areas, accounting for a Rs 2000 crore loss to the state exchequer.

The government is also implementing sundry schemes under the seven-point Krishi Saptak programme, announced some six months ago in the state budget.

MADHYA PRADESH MORE OF THE SAME

The most important subsidy that the Uma Bharati government has undertaken to provide for farmers in Madhya Pradesh is basically an endorsement of the Digvijay pre-poll announcement waiving bills over a three-year period for irrigation pumps of less than 5 HP.

But the government is still trying to raise funds for this purpose from the Centre and has avoided making an official announcement even though the decision is confirmed by senior ministers.

In addition, Agriculture Minister Gopal Bhargava has stated that a farmer-friendly agriculture policy is on the anvil. The policy, he said, would ensure enough financial support to would negate the need to source loans from elsewhere.

The state government would also ensure timely payment of grants, availability of quality fertilisers and secure purchase price for produce, he said. Moreover, the Agriculture, Horticulture and Agriculture Engineering secretariat would continue to function, instead of being shut down as announced by the former Congress government.

Bhargava said that the government was also working on a plan to promote horticulture. He said agriculture would be developed as a profit-making industry.

Sonu Jain with Anuradha Nagaraj, Haima Deshpande, Vishwas Kothari and Hartosh Singh Bal