Managing Farm Distress

                 In the words of Famous Odia poet Gangadhar Meher "krusi kale unnata sakala unnati, krusi bina na kantha na pantha , kahin ba anya gati he " which means agriculture is the base of all type of development and we can not neglect it as there is no alternative of agriculture . Half of the people of our country directly depend upon agriculture and we all are directly or indirectly related to it. So, the distress in farming is a major challenge for us. Despite of many efforts by the central and state govt the result is not satisfactory. Because the main reason of distress is the poor policy and planning and their poor implementation. So, let us discuss its management in a broad sense at the policy making level.
                 As agriculture is a state subject, state govt is more responsible for the development of farming and farmers. The union govt has also its role. In modern day, the role of corporate in agriculture is vital.  As the Prime Minister said in the parliament, the role of the corporate industry is not limited to production of tractors only. They are important in case of investment in agriculture related fields like in food processing and value addition, fertilizer and pesticide industry, irrigation and research. This will not only help in development in agriculture but also create employment boosting the economic prosperity of the country. But for this the govt and administration should support and help the corporates, not intervene with them. The laws, procedure, taxation, license, permission should be simplified.
              Let's talk about the role of the state. The govt should focus on long term development and strengthening infrastructure rather than vote bank politics. Along with formulating policies and schemes, govt should take care of proper execution of these. And most importantly the govt should never support the farm loan waiving for cheap political interest. It never reduces the farm distress rather it puts govt in financial distress. It also imp for the govt to focus on agricultural research and education. There are enough trained and educated man power [ graduates in agriculture and allied subject] in our state. They could be used in research, entrepreneurship and in fruitful implementation of the policies.

              It is sure that neither the govt nor the private sector could solely solve the problem. So, an integrated approach is needed. We have studied that to control pest problem IPM [Integrated Pest Management] is lunched because chemical control or cultural or mechanical or any other control measure solely could not solve the problem effectively. Same also in case of INM [Integrated Nutrient Management]. So, it can be stated that for the all-round development of agriculture a holistic approach is needed which may be termed as IFM [Integrated Farm Management] in which both the central & state govt, private sector, agriculture universities & research institutes, banks & finance institutes and farmer will take part. Extensive research, detailed study and critical analysis by the experts is required in this regard. A database with all required information and expert system should be provided. Proper guideline, well-defined roadmap, the procedures to be followed and timeline should be pre-established for the programme. The role of each part should be specified for proper implementation. All the participants should work coordinately and one sector should support another but not intervene with other. Most importantly there should be sufficient availability of funds.