Is SEZ really a boon for the farmers?

All the times it was the farmers who had to take his produce to the market and search for marketing channels. Corporate entry into agriculture could find an answer that has been plaguing the farm sector for long — proper and affordable price to the farmers.
 
COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT:
All these improvements are more than what the government has been able to offer to the agriculture sector.
 
In fact the governmental cooperative movement which was started with the similar idea of procuring, transporting and retailing the produce has been a major disaster with red tape and political interferences clogging its functioning.
 
By moving in and taking over the supply chain in agriculture, corporate India is also breaking the stronghold of middlemen and loan sharks who have been exploiting the farmers.
 
But the litmus test is whether this new trend is relieving the present constraints that the farmers face in effectively linking with regional, domestic and global markets. How is private sector driving smallholders’ participation in retail food markets?
 
The common perception that private sector will exploit smallholders is slowly changing with the successful demonstration of several corporations that are working with small holders to connect them with domestic and world market.
 
TRADITIONAL RETAILERS:
As supermarkets spread and their market share grows, the market share of traditional retailers declines. Modern retail can also create jobs which are better paid with better conditions. But it requires more skill and education than employment in the informal retail sector. How well the government and the private sector raise the skills of workers in the distribution sector will determine whether the transition has poverty creating or poverty alleviating effects.
 
PLETHORA OF LAWS:
Retailing in India is subjected to a plethora of laws/regulations at the central, state and local/municipal levels.
 
There is lack of specific legislation controlling distribution trade and there is no nodal ministry to control and guide the operation of this sector.
 
This has resulted in delays owing to multiple clearance procedures. Single window clearance scheme should be set up. The elimination of market intermediaries will benefit both the producers and the consumers. Farmers selling to retail companies receive higher prices and hence take care of quality aspect. Simultaneously, this also helps to reduce wastage of perishable commodities which is as much as 30 to 40 per cent in case of fruits and vegetables
 
SMALL FARMERS’ MANAGEMENT REVOLUTION:
As recommended by Dr MS Swaminathan, chairman of National Commission for Farmers, the Special Agricultural Zones (SAZs) should be established to sustain and expand the retail boom from farm to market.
 
SAZs should aim to bring about a small farm management revolution which can help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the major farming systems of the country. Special incentive and support for conservation of farming, timely supply of credit, effective insurance system and above all post-harvest infrastructure for value addition to primary produce, biomass utilisation and producer oriented marketing must be given to farm families in the SAZs.
 
The major purposes of such SAZs are: to conserve prime farm land for agriculture and to bridge the prevailing yield gap; To realize the untapped production potential of rainfed areas; To promote organic farming zones; To ensure National Nutrition Security and Food Sovereignty; To bring about a system approach with concurrent attention-consumption-commerce chain; To strengthen the supply chain from farm to the market and to sustain and expand the retail boom. As in the case of SEZ, special incentives and logistic support must be given to farm families in the SAZ areas.
 
These should include support for conservation of farming, timely support for credit, effective insurance system and above all post-harvest infrastructure for vale addition to primary produce, biomass utilization and producer oriented marketing.
 
There is another land war involving small and marginal farmers possessing fertile agricultural land and those who wish to purchase for setting up SEZs. The answer to this question is not just to persuade small farmers to quit farming by selling their land, however attractive the prevailing price may be.
 
This is where the agro processing and retail sector can make a contribution by providing opportunities for skilled non-farm employment. Sustainable food security with home grown food has three additional benefits. First it provides sustainable livelihoods, secondly, it protects our national sovereignty in foreign policy and thirdly, it diminishes the rate of inflation by creating a balance between demand and supply.
 
Moreover, adoption of integrated agriculture is the major source of job-led economic growth which in a population rich country like India would result in joyless growth. Therefore, SAZs should be promoted on the model of SEZs. Identify in every state areas with a high untapped agricultural potential both under irrigated and rainfed conditions and develop them into SAZs. Introduce with the help of farmers’ organisations and gram sabhas, as well as private sector, integrated package of technology, services, techno-infrastructure and producer-oriented trade; introduce common service centres, including Gyan Chaupals based on CSC programme of the Department of Information Technology with provision for providing key centralised services to support decentralised production. Spread a quality literacy programme, including knowledge of sanitary and phytosanitary measures and codex alimentarius standards of food security.
FDI IN RETAIL:
 
Currently, a heated debate is on whether or not; Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retailing is desirable. FDI is not allowed in retailing. FDI, however, in a single brand is permissible. It is also allowed only in franchising and in commission agent services. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board on a case-by-case basis approves the FDI proposal in the wholesale trade services. Many reputed foreign retailers with deep pockets and deeper market knowledge are waiting in the wings to enter the country. Restriction on FDI may constrain the growth of organised retailing.
 
there is no point for boon or anything. a farmer can earn his livelyhood only through farming. taking away land from him and giving in return a handsome amount of money ( which still was very less as against their actual evaluation) cant make him earn for himself. and when there is already a shortage of cultivable land, taking that for industrialisation is definately a wrong decision in long run.
 
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