Blow to farmers as seed subsidy cut by 20 per cent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Local Self-Government Department issued an order on January 11, cutting back farm sector seed subsidy by 20 per cent and passing on the additional burden to farmers, already wilting under the yoke of unremunerative farming.

Many officials were clueless about the order till the other day when it cropped up in guidelines issued by the Kerala Institute of Local Administration. Guidelines came up for discussion as working groups started preparing new projects to be presented to grama sabhas.

The seed subsidy regime under Plan funds, implemented by local bodies from corporation to panchayats, has encouraged more farmers to return to farming. Farmers used to get seeds and seedlings free of cost, but the LSGD order has reduced the subsidy from 100 percent to 80 percent.

“There has been little transparency in the way the decision was taken to reduce the subsidy, which hits paddy sector the worst. The area under paddy has been declining and the subsidy cutback is the proverbial last straw that breaks the camel’s back”, says former agriculture production commissioner M S Joseph.

Subsidy components and seed procurement have a history of trial and error in Kerala, which is why successive ministries have competed to raise the subsidy than reduce it. In Kuttanad, there are three crops (one in summer) and given the subsea-level cultivation and flooding in monsoon, seeds are procured from elsewhere by Government agencies. Such is the importance given to protect farming, points out Mr Joseph.

When contacted, LSGD Secretary P I Sheik Pareeth told DC: “Noticing this for the first time. Let me confirm it and if serious, I’ll take it up with the Government”.   

Here are stark figures, though not new altogether:  Rice production plunged from 13.3 lakh tonnes in 19756-76 to 5.3 lakh tonnes in 2010 and the area under paddy declined from 8.8 lakh hectares to 2.3 lakh hectares over the same period.

If the Government expects local bodies to canalize own funds to offset the subsidy cut, it is unrealistic because many panchayats generate very little revenue to sustain themselves.

Sources say paddy cultivation, being undertaken collectively by padasekhara samitis, will take a direct hit. For instance, if a samiti used to get Rs 1 lakh worth of seeds for free, the revised LSGD order requires the samiti to shell out Rs 20,000 to buy the same quantity. Farmers would rather leave the fields fallow, discouraged as they are by the Government attitude.

In the case of vegetable cultivation, the 20 p c subsidy cut will be equally disastrous, not for the money involved but for the cumbersome process involved in getting the subsidy from Krishi Bhavan.  

Strangely, the controversial administrative decision has come at a time when more homesteads have been taking up organic cultivation. Onam markets have been flush local farm produce but the latest “punitive” order has the potential to turn the clock back on vegetable cultivation.

Farmers and officials are confused as to what had prompted the LSGD to issue the order in the run-up to the elections, given its definite negative impact on voters. Whether the order was issued without any forethought is a moot point.
Working groups at local bodies are confused.

They are in the process of drafting projects for the new fiscal. The subsidy order have to be factored in while wrapping up projects, which have to get the approval of  corporations, municipalities and district, block and gram panchayats before the election notification.  If projects are not approved before the declaration of poll dates, the planning and implementation of new projects will go into limbo till polls are over.