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World in 1983) passed away in Delhi, Research on International Economic
his mission unfulfilled. Onions are not Relations (ICRIER), in a revealing
included in 23 crops for which SKM op-ed essay written for the Indian
farmers are demanding minimum Express (February 19).
support price. On the contrary with Curiously even though a small and
onion prices firming up in India, in growing minority of establishment
August last year a 40 percent duty was economists are becoming aware of
imposed on onion exports depriving egregious India vs. Bharat inequality,
Indian farmers the advantage of high they seem to suffer a blind-spot about
prices abroad. the unkindest cut of all inflicted upon
Even as Sharad Joshi emerged as a the country’s rural majority: a con-
provincial leader in Maharashtra, up spicuous failure to nurture the devel-
north, in 1986, Mahendra Singh opment of a vigorous food processing
Tikait was elected president of the and post-harvest industry. Although
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) in Ut- it’s common knowledge that 20 per-
tar Pradesh — India’s most populous cent of the country’s horticulture
(215 million), and socio-economically and 10 percent of foodgrains produc-
backward state. But although Tikait Gulati: mindset change call tion valued at Rs.10,000 crore rots
emerged as a formidable farmers’ because of under-development of a
leader and led over “60 farmers move- whose number is estimated at 430 down-stream food processing indus-
ments” including a famous rally at the million. try, Dr. Gulati, who has studied farm
Boat Cub in Delhi that swamped the That farm produce prices have economies of over 50 countries, hasn’t
national capital in 1986, forcing the been deliberately suppressed for over commented on the huge loss of time,
Rajiv Gandhi government to decree seven decades is admitted by a mi- money and effort suffered by India’s
higher prices for sugarcane and waiv- nority of economists. “The first and farmers because of this policy failure.
er of electricity charges in UP, after Ti- foremost policy action that is needed In addition to a fifth of the coun-
kait’s demise the farmers movement in is to remove all bans on agri-exports, try’s annual fruits and vegetables pro-
the north also lost its momentum. The stocking limits on private trade, and duce rotting before it gets to market,
demands of Punjab/Haryana farmers stop unloading wheat and rice in the it’s pertinent to also note that over
in 2021 and currently for better prices open market at below the economic 10-15 million tonnes of foodgrains
for farm produce supplemented with cost of the Food Corporation of In- stored in the archaic godowns of the
a host of other grievances are reflec- dia (FCI). These are all anti-farmer public sector Food Corporation of In-
tive of the frustrations of India’s rural policies designed to favour consum- dia rot or are consumed by rodents.
majority continuously denied living ers. The fundamental problem of to- Against this, only 5-10 percent of farm
standards equivalent with their urban day’s agri-food policies is that they produce in the US and Brazil and Eu-
counterparts. are highly tilted towards consumers ropean countries is allowed to perish
I N THIS CONNECTION IT’S per- needs to change, especially when the produce is quickly purchased, pro-
at the cost of farmers. This mindset
because non-table quality horticulture
government claims that just 11 percent
cessed and marketed by giant food
tinent to remember that under
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s
Monte, Cargill and Kellogg.
ty,” says Dr. Ashok Gulati, former
compulsory procurement of of the population lives under pover- processing multinationals such as Del
farm produce prices to feed the ur- chairman of the Commission for Agri- Surprisingly, Indian policy formu-
ban proletariat, over 30 million peas- cultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and lators and learned economists are re-
ants died of starvation in the 1930s. currently Infosys chair professor for luctant to draw lessons from a home-
Likewise an estimated 30-45 million agriculture at the Indian Council for grown farm produce success story
Chinese peasants perished during — the rise and rise of the Amul milk
Chairman Mao’s Great Leap Forward Indian farmers didn't die products brand which visionary farm-
initiative of 1958-65. In democratic ers champion, the late Dr. Verghese
India, farmers didn’t die of starvation of starvation as in Stalinist Kurien (1921-2012) launched in the
as much as by prolonged malnutri- Russia as much as by 1960s, and is arguably the country’s
tion, i.e, millions became ‘dead men prolonged malnutrition most famous and loved FMCG (fast
walking’ even as paying rock-bottom moving consumer goods) brand.
prices for agriculture produce, urban because of rock-bottom As the first chairman of the Nation-
India’s bourgeoisie has transformed prices for agri-produce al Dairy Development Board (NDDB),
into the world’s largest middle class Kurien persuaded the Central govern-

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