PESTICIDES and fertilizers constitute major part of the expenses of agricultural operations apart from high electricity tariff. Farmers, hoping against hope, have been using much larger doses of pesticides to control life-destroying pests. Pesticides used for cotton alone constitute half of the total quantity of pesticide consumption in the country. Unfortunately, cotton farmers lost crops within two seasons of cultivation as the pests developed resistance to the pesticide used. Pesticide dealers always encourage farmers who are desperate to save the crop somehow or other. They encourage them to use more and more quantities of pesticides, knowing pretty well that this will not work. The story of cotton farmers of the many states is telling evidence to this fact. In Warangal district alone, there are 13000 retail outlets of pesticides selling the products of 93 companies. Most of these merchants sell spurious pesticides and adulterated fertilizers, which lead to crop failure. These rich merchants are supporters of the ruling Telugu Desam Party and hence the government has not taken any action against them.

According to the Report of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) 1996-97, expenditure on fertilizer, irrigation, insecticides and petroleum products account for about three fourth of the expenditure on inputs purchased by farmers from the non-farm sector. It further says that between 1990-91 and 1995-96, the prices of fertilizer increased by 113%, that of irrigation 62% and insecticides by 90% and the prices of petroleum products were expected to go up by 75%. Even the farmers producing primarily for the market (but for those who produce paddy and wheat in surplus producing regions) are not fully compensated for the high input costs and the consequent escalation in the production cost. The small and marginal farmers with very meagre marketable surplus end up in heavy debt burden in this process. A recent study claims that the total investment per acre in cultivating cotton, brinjal and paddy has increased 200 - 300 % while the selling rate does not show any corresponding increase. The quantities of fertilizers and pesticides used per hectare have increased sharply while the yields per hectare are tapering off or even falling. Still, small and marginal farmers are left with no other option but to continue cultivation hoping for, at least, maintaining sustenance levels.

The move to corporatise electricity in many states is closely linked to privatisation of power production, transmission and distribution. Privatisation is aimed at removal of subsidy for electricity, which still constitutes a sizeable quantum. Electricity rates have already been hiked in many states ranging from Uttar Pradesh to Andhra Pradesh. Peasants will be severely affected when the process of privatisation is completed.

Wasteland Development

The Tamil Nadu government has introduced a Comprehensive Wasteland Programme to offer lands on a platter to the MNCs. Wasteland not only means the lands lying fallow but also “higher grade wastelands with assured rainfall.” This means large tracts of lands including the forestlands on the hills and upper reaches will be given to corporate sector. This programme envisages leasing out 20 lakhs hectares of so-called fallow and degraded land to the corporate sector, small companies and co-operative societies to be developed for agricultural activities. Corporate and contract farming are pro­posed as constituents under this programme. A new body Tamil Nadu Watershed Development Agency' has been set up to source funds from Government of India, NABARD, National Horticulture Board and external funding agencies to implement large Watershed development projects. One of the external agencies whose assistance is sought is the World Bank.

Cultivation under this programme will cover cash crops including cotton, fruits and vegetables, flowers, spices and plantation crops, among others, with forward linkages to agribusiness, storage and markets. Land is to be leased to corporate houses for up to 30 years. The lease amount fixed is ridiculously low - it ranges from 1-4% of the land value -almost suggesting that the lands are to be given as gratis to the corporate sector.

The Comprehensive Wasteland Development Programme of the Tamil Nadu government, if implemented, will have disastrous consequences. A large part of the land shown in the government records as fallow are actually under the cultivation by thousands of farmers, many of them with land titles and they will be thrown out of their lands. Giant bore-wells sunk by the corporate farms would extract the maximum ground water leaving the irrigation wells of the farmers and the common tanks and ponds dry. Transgenic technologies will lead to soil erosion and attendant ecological degradation. The already dwindling forest cover will further be eroded by making available the ‘waste lands’ to the corporate farming, thus bringing about adverse effects in climatic patterns. Nearly a million families living in poromboke lands in hutments may be thrown out as they have not secured their housing pattas.