Ausgram block in Burdwan is a three hour journey from Kolkata… This is one of the most fertile regions of the state, and is irrigated by both public and private tube wells. The site of the DC is village Palastala in Ausgram where 1000 ha Demonstration under BGREI was underway. Fifty tonnes of paddy seed had been distributed among 1605 farmers belonging to Ausgram and Karatia mouzas. The variety sown was MTU 7029 (locally called Swarna), and the date of sowing (10th June) were prominently displayed. The team observed the seed bed, the transplanted field and interacted with over a dozen farmers who had assembled. . The farmers were asked why Swarna was preferred. They responded that this was acceptable not only on account of its higher yield (4.5 ton/ha), but because of its ability to withstand both drought and flood. The other varieties sown in the area included Gotra Bidhan and IR 36. The farmers said that Gotra Bidhan was suitable only for uplands, while Swarna could be used for both upland and lowland areas.
While some enterprising farmers had gone in for a soil test, it has not become a ‘uniform’ practice. The field staff was instructed to collect more soil samples from this area and farmers were advised to apply fertilizer after getting the test reports, and in consultation with the Assistant Director of Agriculture.
As both RBI and Nabard officials were accompanying your columnist, they were very keen to get an assessment of the ‘ground reality’ of the Kisan Credit card. For the RBI, the conversations with the farmers were quite revealing, and the senior bankers (RBI and NABRAD were quick to note that the bank branches had not given them the realistic picture with regard to KCCs. Most farmers (and by this time the numbers had swelled to over a score and ten) had not been issued a KCC, and were getting loans from money lenders @ 5 % interest rate per month. They were members of the local PACCS, but the scale of finance was quite low, never exceeding Rs 3000/per farmer, and the PACCS also faced a liquidity crunch. They were all keen to get a Bank KCC. (This will need to be resolved, as over 15 lakh KCCs in West Bengal have been issued in the co-op sector and the scale of finance should be the same).
Visit to Seed village
The team reached Bagdai, Ausgram GP to visit the seed village and interact with the forty farmers who were participating in the programme of producing KharifPaddy (Swarna). The objective of the seed village scheme was to encourage farmers to produce their own paddy seeds and a farmers’ training had been conducted just a few days ago (12.07.11) for all the farmers under seed village. Farmers were enthusiastic learners, and felt that this programme would bring down the cultivation costs , not only for those who participated in the programme , but even for the others, as this assured the neighboring farmers of quality seed at a reasonable price.
Discussion on Hybrids
The team reached Circuit house, Burdwan and after a working lunch ,received a presentation organized by Crop Life India which highlighted the results of a study conducted at Raina-II block, to compare the performance of hybrid paddy (6444 and 27 P 3-1) with HYV. The study revealed a 150% increase in yield on account of hybrid paddy (7.5 t/ha) over that of HYV (5 t/ha). The farmers on whose fields the hybrids had been grown were also present for the interaction. Agriculture Department officials raised questions with regard to the taste of hybrid paddy, its acceptability among mill owners and the final consumers. There was also the issue of higher input costs, and the permanent dependence on an external agency for the supply of seeds. One of them pithily remarked that Hybrid cultivation, seed villages and Bio Villages cannot work together. However, the learning point was that while it was technically feasible to get higher returns from hybrid paddy, unless a state backed procurement system was in place, higher productivity may not translate into better returns for farmers. As far as acceptance of the variety is concerned, it always took time for any new ‘flavour’ to become acceptable.
Financial Inclusion
The discussion on Kisan Credit cards revealed the ‘gap’ between ‘precept’ and practice. The issue of a Kisan Credit card was no one’s specific responsibility – the bank regarded it as a burden, the revenue official as ‘yet another government directive’ and the agriculture department did not regard it as a ‘salient’ feature of the required interventions. The Co-operation Department felt ignored in most cases, – for even after having issued the highest number of credit cards – they were usually not invited to share their views, and even in this review meeting they had not been invited, either by the DM, or the Lead District manager, or the DDM of Nabard, or the agriculture department !
It was agreed that the agriculture department had to take the frontier role in the issue of credit cards, and that the Agriculture Department’s certificate with regard to an individual being a farmer, and cultivating land would be acceptable to the banks for purposes of ‘introduction’. The Agriculture department would monitor the issue of KCCs on the same lines as the distribution of mini-kits and availability of fertilizer as credit, was an equally important agricultural input.
The ‘scale of finance’ was also extremely complicated, and a fine example of ‘penny wise, pound foolish’. Twelve scales had been laid out – ranging from Aman, Aus and Boro paddy to maize, jute, potato, wheat, moong and mustard. In the quest to be perfect, the essence – that of making credit available to the farmer based on his land and crop had been lost – for if the scale was sacrosanct, then a certificate to the effect that only this particular crop was being grown also became imperative. Imagine this exercise being done at least twice a year for all the KCC holders in a state…. The simple point is: this is a sham exercise which serves no purpose. It was time, the process was simplified, and a standard rate, based on land holding, and (season) prescribed. True, there may be some cases when the banks have over financed to the extent to ten to fifteen percent, but the savings in transaction time, cost and harassment will more than make up for this ‘extra load’.