As farm stir intensifies, Centre proposes new solution to end stalemate

Agitating farmers have suspended their protest march to Delhi for two days after clashes broke out between police personnel and farm groups along the Haryana-Punjab border on Wednesday.

The Centre on Wednesday invited farmers for a fifth round of talks after earlier rounds failed to achieve any major breakthrough.

At the heart of the ongoing farm protest is the demand for a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP). The farm groups had rejected the Centre’s proposal to buy three types of pulses, maize and cotton from farmers at the minimum support price for five years.

Here’s how the Modi government reportedly proposes to offer a solution to the farmers’ issue:

• The Centre on Sunday proposed to have a five-year contract with farmers to procure five crops namely maize, cotton, arhar, tur, massur, and urad at MSP.

• Government agencies, Competition Commission of India (CCI) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) were expected to undertake the contract. There was no upper limit on the quantum of crops that could have been procured.

• Ecologically, the crop diversification plan is ideal for Punjab, where the groundwater levels have depleted significantly over the years. Of the 138 assessed blocks in Punjab, stated in the Dynamic Groundwater Resources Assessment of India – 2017 report, 109 are over-exploited, two as critical, five as semi-critical, and only 22 as safe.

• The total annual groundwater recharge of the state was assessed as 23.93 bcm (billion cubic metres), annual extractable groundwater resource was 21.59 bcm. The annual groundwater extraction was at 35.78 bcm, putting the extraction at 166 per cent, the highest for any state in India.

• Majority of Punjab’s area is under wheat and paddy cultivation (85% in 2020-21).  An ecosystem that encourages sowing of cotton, pulses, and maize does not exist currently.

• In terms of area under cultivation, Maize makes up for 1.5%, Cotton is 3.2%, and pulses merely 0.4%. For farmers, moving towards these crops is likely to unlock new markets and buyers.

Rejecting the government’s proposal after four round of talks, farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said: "After holding discussion (on the Centre's proposal) in our two forums, it has been decided that the Centre's proposal is not in the interest of farmers and we reject this proposal."