Agriculture: शेतीचे धार्मिकीकरण म्हणजे भिकेचे डोहाळे! By वसंत भोसले February 4, 2023 https://www.lokmat.com/editorial/the-religiousization-of-agriculture-is-a-beggars-rope-a384-c301/ https://www.lokmat.com/editorial/the-religiousization-of-agriculture-is-a-beggars-rope-a384-c301/
वास्तविक भारतीय कृषी क्षेत्रात इतकी विविधता आहे की, एखादे पीक पुरेसे आले नाही, त्याचे उत्पादन कमी झाले तरी त्याला पर्याय असतो. भरड धान्याचे असंख्य प्रकार आहेत. या धान्यांच्या उत्पादनवाढीसाठी सरकारकडे कोणतीही योजना नाही. त्यांच्या चांगल्या बियाणासाठी पुरेसे संशोधन नाही. भरड धान्याला ‘श्री धान्य’ म्हटल्याने उत्पादन वाढत नसते. ते धान्य भरडून खायचे असते म्हणून त्याला भरड धान्य म्हणतात. श्री या शब्दाचा अर्थ काय? श्रीधान्य असे नाव दिल्याने त्या धान्याच्या नैसर्गिक गुणधर्मालाच छेद दिला जातो. शेतीलाही धार्मिक आयाम देण्याचे प्रयत्न होत आहेत. Google translate: In fact, Indian agriculture is so diverse that even if a crop does not produce enough, its yield is reduced, there is an alternative. There are numerous types of whole grains. The government has no plan to increase the production of these grains. There is not enough research for their good seed. Calling coarse grains 'Sri Dhanya' does not increase production. It is called coarse grain because it is eaten full of grain. What does the word Sri mean? By giving the name Shreedhanya, the natural properties of that grain are violated. Efforts are being made to give religious dimension to agriculture as well.
वास्तविक कृषी क्षेत्रावर आजही ६५ ते ७५ कोटी जनता थेट अवलंबून आहे. भारताच्या दहाव्या कृषी गणनेनुसार एक हेक्टर किंवा त्यापेक्षा कमी क्षेत्र असणाऱ्या शेतकऱ्यांचे प्रमाण ८६.२० टक्के आहे. शेतकऱ्यांची ही संख्या ११ कोटी ७२ लाख भरते. मध्यम शेतकऱ्यांची (१ ते ४ हेक्टर क्षेत्र) संख्या १ कोटी ९७ लाख आहे आणि त्यांचे प्रमाण १३.२० टक्के आहे. केवळ ९ लाख ८० हजार शेतकरी पाच किंवा त्याहून अधिक हेक्टर शेतीक्षेत्र असणारे आहेत. लहान आणि मध्यम शेतकऱ्यांची संख्या मागील कृषी गणनेच्या आकडेवारीनुसार वाढली आहे. म्हणजे तुकडेकरणाची प्रक्रिया अद्याप थांबलेली नाही. याचा दुसरा अर्थ असा होतो की, कृषी क्षेत्रावर अवलंबून असणाऱ्यांची संख्या वेगाने कमी होणे अपेक्षित आहे ते होत नाही. ग्रामीण भागात रोजगाराची संधी कृषी क्षेत्रातच आहे; पण त्या कृषी क्षेत्रातील लोकांचे; पर्यायाने शेतकऱ्यांचे उत्पन्न वाढण्यासाठी कोणतेही उपाय करण्यात आलेले नाहीत. Actually 65 to 75 crore people are directly dependent on the agricultural sector even today. According to India's 10th Census of Agriculture, the proportion of farmers with one hectare or less is 86.20 percent. This number of farmers is 11 crore 72 lakh. The number of medium farmers (1 to 4 hectares area) is 1 crore 97 lakh and their proportion is 13.20 percent. Only 9 lakh 80 thousand farmers have five or more hectares of agricultural land. The number of small and medium farmers has increased as per previous agriculture census figures. This means that the process of fragmentation has not yet stopped. Another implication is that the number of dependents on agriculture is expected to decrease rapidly, which is not happening. Employment opportunities in rural areas are mainly in agriculture; But those agricultural people; Alternatively, no measures have been taken to increase the income of farmers.
https://www.lokmat.com/editorial/the-religiousization-of-agriculture-is-a-beggars-rope-a384-c301/
Comment. It may be tag line to say natural farming or organic farming should be "Ram Bharose", But can Public Agrilcultural Policy be? Not Ram Bharose, but Decentralisation, Look for the 'Atma' Locally, not corporatised universe
Nor can us use industrial intensification principles - taylorisaiton, external inputs, externalisation of waste etc. The only way is to diversify rural economy not just on-farm activity like animal husbandry, horticulture but also construction/building of infrastructure through NREGA, allied services jobs, like decentralised rural based distribution using IT, localised cold storage and credit for it, export. Today all these are being taken over by large centralised and monopoly like set-ups.
Budget 2023: Here is what Nirmala Sitharaman said about ‘Shri Anna’ and the International Year of Millets https://www.opindia.com/2023/02/budget-2023-nirmala-sitharaman-said-shri-anna-and-the-international-year-of-millets/
On December 6, last year, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations hosted the opening ceremony for the International Year of Millets 2023 in Rome in Italy. In her budget sppech 2023, the FM emphasised, “Now to make India a global hub for Shri Anna, the Indian Institute of Millets Research in Hyderabad will be supported as the centre of excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the international level.” The speech itself : youtube 2 mins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmjCmFL4MbM
All About Siridhanya Millets-Health Benefits-Best Alternative for Wheat and Rice-Dr Khadar Vali https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcX3SSXfBFM