In an attempt to provide proper prices to the farmers for their agricultural produce Agricultural Co Operative and Farmers Welfare Department, Agricultural and Farmers Welfare Ministry, Government of India held a meeting on Thursday for formulation of price policy with officials of Agricultural Departments of five States of West Zone including West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) Chairman, Vijay Paul Sharma presided the meeting and discussed thoroughly on every aspects with the officials of the various departments and the farmers visited the State Capital from those states to attend the meeting.
After listening views and suggestions of participants, Paul said that it is necessary that the farmers should get proper price of their produces because after facing so many hurdles they provide food grains for the people. “The Government focusing on every aspect so that the farmers should get more than their production costs income of the farmers should be increased. It is our effort to asses production costs of different crops in different states because the production cost varies according to the areas. Production cost has been increased over the years and the selling prices of the products not increased in similar way,” he added.
Paul said that the department fixes prices of crops after assessing labour, transport, fuel, fertilizer, seed, irrigation and other costs. “The farmers should develop their own Farmers Producers’ Organisation (FPO) to get proper prices. Once they start this practice their problem of farm produce will decrease heavily,” he added.
The CACP Chairman highlighted three main problems the farmers are facing first Infrastructure second Market and third Scarcity of Institutions. He appealed that the concerned officials should focus on these three problems and assured that it will be addressed as early as possible.
Paul further said that there is need to increase diversification in farming, focusing only on paddy and wheat is main problem in providing proper prices to the farmers for their produces. He said that such kinds of meeting gives opportunity to know strength and weakness of other states and it will help in sort out problems.
In conversation session during the meeting a farmer from Gola Blok of Ramgarh District, Rachia Mahto said that the farmers are facing various problems like lack of proper irrigation system, lack of good credit institutions, scarcity of good markets and also said that the farmers are not getting benefit of crop insurance. Similar sentiments echoed by various farmers came to attend the meeting from these five states.
