While politicians are busy earning brownie points through waving off farmer loans, the farmers in Maharashtra's Pune and Ahmednagar districts have a different story to tell.

I had decided to check whether the farmers in Maharashtra are really in favour of the loan waiver after the opposition members were screaming in the legislature almost every day, during the budget session which began on March 9 and concluded on April 17. I decided to visit two districts, Pune and Ahmednagar which are politically more aware than other parts of the state.

On my first stop at a village Malad in Pune, I met an educated farmer Savata Navle, an old friend. We studied journalism in Pune University in 2000. However, after a year Savata chose to continue his family tradition of farming. "I have taken a bumper crop of jowar after a gap of 16 years," Savata announced with a proud feeling. However, he could not hide his displeasure the next moment. "Last year, jowar had got rate of Rs 1800 per quintal. This year, it is just Rs 1200 per quintal." In other words, he had large produce but he did not earn more than the last year's income because of low market prices.

Savata backs the idea of loan waiver to the farmers who do not have subsidiary business. He has set an example on how a farmer with subsidiary business can survive in the time of crisis. His five-acre farm land does not grow anything than jowar and sugarcane but his cattle - 50 cows - have helped him sustain on the business of milk.

On the other side of Malad is another village called Kauthadi. It is around 22 km from Baramati, the town NCP chief Sharad Pawar refers to as a development model. I spotted farm of pomegranate spread over 10 acre and stopped to inquire about its owner. Haushiram Matole pointed towards his dried field to underpin that water shortage as affected his crop. A born farmer Matole said his pomegranates were sold at Rs 80 per kg last year. This year, the rate has come down to Rs 8 per kg because of the low quality of the product.

"If I had got water on time I would have saved my crop," Matole said. He has suffered a loss of around Rs 7 lakh in the farming but that has not made him seek the loan waiver. "A true farmer will never cry over adverse situations. The government should make the market system stronger so that farmers get good prices to their produce," he said rejecting the idea of loan waiver calling it as a temporary measure.

Matole's views gave me a new perspective on the story. I inquired in detail on his family and sources of income. All his family members survive on farming. He has a pucca house with three bed rooms and an LCD TV. However, this does not indicate his true financial condition. It was bought when he got good price for pomegranate for two consecutive years. This year, however, he is finding it difficult to maintain the house.

Next day, I visited the agriculture produce marketing committee (APMC) at Rahuri in Ahmednagar, the home district of leader of opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil who is on the front demanding loan waiver. Every single truck that arrived at the APMC brought onions as Friday was the designated day for buying onions there. I met a group of farmers who had brought their onions from Parner, the taluka known for social activist Anna Hazare's work on water conservation.

My assumption that the farmers, mostly inclined towards Congress, will blast at the Devendra Fadnavis government proved partially correct. They were upset with the government for low market price to onion (Rs 5.50 per kilo). At the same time, they were against the Congress' demand of complete loan waiver to the farmers. Suresh Sagare, who stood among the farmers counting their bags, said the government was not serious on considering minimum base price for agriculture products. "If I spend Rs 100 on certain crop the government should assure me that I will get at least Rs 120 as a price to it. If it happens no farmer will go to banks seeking loan," he argued.

Other farmers echoed Sagare. "You (media) make loud noise when prices of onion go up. I want to ask you why people of big cities can't shell out a few rupees more when they can afford to do that. They should not complain if that helps the farmers," shouted a farmer. A had no answer to his question.

A farmers' leader from Puntamba Dhananjay Jadhav is associated with the BJP but he thinks his party's government is not doing justice with the farmers. He is encouraging the farmers from nearby four talukas to go on strike from June 1 to catch the government's attention to their plight. "You get milk at a rate of Rs 58 per litre in Mumbai. Do you know how much we get out of that?" he asked me. "Rs 18. That's it. The middlemen and milk federations earn more than us. Why would we agitate if we get good price for our products?"

Jadhav put a simple logic. According to him, the people of urban areas are unaware of the farmers' issues. "I am sure if they know we get only Rs 18 of the Rs 58 they pay to the milkman they will stop complaining about the so called high prices of the agriculture products," Jadhav said.

What the story taught me? Agrarian crisis are not only result of natural calamities but they are man-made too.

Source: indiatoday