Farm issues take centre stage as Chhattisgarh goes to poll

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“Today, I am announcing from this stage that just as we had waived loans of farmers last time, if we form government again, farmers will have their loans waived again,” Bhupesh Baghel, incumbent Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and Congress party leader, declared while addressing a public meeting in the state a few days ago. With 70 per cent of the state's population engaged in agriculture, according to Niti Aayog, farmers are an important vote bank. Baghel's pitch to the state has been about a slew of policies and promises to farmers from higher MSP to farm loan waivers.

“The government implemented several schemes for the welfare and support of farmers, which will help the Congress win 75-plus seats in the 90-member House,” he said addressing a rally on October 24.

An increase in farmer incomes, a key vote bank, has been a big part of all party agendas. While the Narendra Modi-led government has been betting big on farmers with a series of steps to woo this large vote bank, including direct cash transfers in accounts of farmers, Chhattisgarh has followed suit, rolling out several agri policies.

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Speaking at a media conclave in May, Baghel cited his government’s track record, saying annual farmer incomes in his state had risen about 40 percent to Rs 1.33 lakh per annum in just four years. “Our support to farmers through the provision of input subsidies, increased government procurement and strong food prices has made agriculture a profitable proposition for farmers,” he added.

Congress counting on paddy for re-election

The state’s biggest hit has been the state’s offer of an additional Rs 600 on paddy for the kharif crop being currently procured, above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) offered by the Centre, which is significant because of the state’s high procurement of the crop.

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Chhattisgarh is a state synonymous with rice. Of its total cultivated area of 4.78 million hectares (ha), rice takes centerstage, covering a substantial 68.8 percent of the agricultural landscape.

Farmers in Chhattisgarh have been able to sell all their produce far above the MSP promised by the Centre. The farm harvest price of paddy for the year 2021-22 saw the cost rise 25 percent above MSP, latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows.

As a result, paddy production has increased by 63 percent in the five years between 2017-18 and 2021-22, data showed. Baghel became Chief Minister in 2018.

“The government of Chhattisgarh has ensured that the entire produce is procured by the state government, ensuring farmers get good remuneration. While the state is number 8 in production of rice, it leads in procurement, procuring 80 percent of its total crops. This has translated into better farmer incomes,” says Anand Chandra, co-founder of Noida-based Arya.ag, which operates more than 3,000 storage warehouses for wheat and rice across the country and has a presence in Chhattisgarh as well.

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A factor that has worked in favour of the state is its consistent offer of state MSP, which has been higher than the MSP being offered by the central government. “For the past few years, the Chhattisgarh government has been offering an MSP that is Rs 600 higher per quintal of paddy. They have additionally worked on their irrigation systems to improve or revamp them to support the growth of this crop,” Chandra added.

Chhattisgarh allotted Rs 300 crore for new irrigation projects in budget 2023-24.

The state has switched over to a paddy variety that is less susceptible to pest and disease attacks, with yields of this hybrid much higher (15-20 qt/acre) than superfine rice (7-8 qt/acre), Sanjiv Kanwar, Managing Director, Yara South Asia, an Indian subsidiary of Yara International, world's leading crop nutrition company told Moneycontrol.

While both the BJP and Congress are yet to release their manifestos for the state, Baghel’s government has already promised to hike the paddy purchase price to Rs 3,600/quintal over the next term, if re-elected.

It has also promised a loan waiver to farmers, a key electoral promise that saw the Congress returning to power  in Chhattisgarh in 2018 after a gap of 15 years. It had waived an amount of about Rs 9,000 crore owed by farmers. It had also waived another Rs 350 crore of irrigation tax.

Solar pumps taking water to marginalised sections

Another government scheme to have worked in favour of the state is the Saur Sujala Yojana or the solar pumps programme.

“Chhattisgarh’s success has been its targeting of Scheduled Tribe (ST) farmers, who are among the most marginalised in irrigation access. The government, directly or indirectly led them to agriculture when it built roads, infrastructure, thus helping tribals move away from dependence on forests and go towards agricultural lands,” Venkat Ramanujam Ramani, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru, pointed out.

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As per a study by public policy think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), about 60 per cent of the solar pumps in the state were deployed by ST farmers. “The state has done remarkably well in ensuring equitable access, with 90 percent of small and marginal farmers reporting better access to irrigation through solar pumps,” it said.

This, as per the think tank, has improved irrigation access to more than 72 percent of the farmers, who either did not have any irrigation or depended on costly options like diesel pumps.

Speaking on the state’s prosperity, which has been led by the push given to the agricultural sector, Ramani says that revenues from the mining and steel industry have additionally made it possible for the state to invest in schemes, road infrastructure, and stable power supply.

Organic farming yet to take root

As per a Niti Ayog report, Chhattisgarh’s implementation of the Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati scheme to promote organic farmers has found few takers, with the total area under organic farming in the state standing at just 71,000 hectares or 1.5 percent of the total agricultural area.

“Schemes to promote organic farming may take a while as the largely tribal parts of the state will take time to understand the importance of the step. There is no conclusive evidence on the economic viability of such farming methods and approaches among smallholder farmers. An enabling policy needs to be developed for such ideas to take root,” ATREE’s Ramani added.