CHANDIGARH/ BATHINDA
: Punjab farmers’ demand for a reasonable MSP of wheat and paddy from the Centre before every cropping season hinges on agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan’s formula that is based on the average cost of production and was proposed in his 2006 report.
The Swaminathan commission had advised the Centre to raise the MSP to at least 50% above the weighted average cost of production. Known as the C2+50% formula, it includes the input cost of capital and the rent on the land (called ‘C2’) to give the farmers 50% returns.
The Centre claims to follow this calculation, while the farmers claim that the government applies its own formula that lowers the MSP significantly. No farmer agitation for MSP, especially in Punjab, is complete without invoking the C2+50% formula. Illiterate or semi-literate farmers in Punjab might be unable to pronounce Swaminathan’s name properly, but they always refer to his formula. The national commission on farmers, headed by Swaminathan, had submitted five reports — the final one on October 4, 2006 — focused on cause of farmer distress and rise in farmer suicides. He had recommended addressing these issues through a holistic national policy for farmers.
The Swaminathan recommendations, including the MSP formula, had figured prominently during the year-long struggle against three contentious farm laws. Bhartiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal said the Swaminathan formula was “still relevant” and the least the Centre could do was to implement it to give the farmers equitable returns. “Even though Swaminathan didn’t recommend certain components of agricultural cost, his formula remains satisfactory to a large extent, while the present system of calculating the MSP is unfair,” he explained. “Implementation of the Swaminathan commission recommendations for the welfare of farmers will be a fitting tribute to the agriculture scientist,” said farmer outfit BKU Ekta Ugrahan president Joginder Singh Ugrahan.
Lauding the unparalleled contribution of Swaminathan to agriculture, farmer leader Manjit Singh Dhaner said he had felt the pain of farmers’ distress and wanted the agriculturists to be provided relief. Rajewal recalled his meeting with Swaminathan nearly 35 years ago when the latter revealed how Punjab was chosen for the Green Revolution. “I had met MS Swaminathan at a seminar in the late 1980s.
I asked him about the Green Revolution, and Swaminathan told me that when then PM Indira Gandhi returned from the US in early 1960s, she called him (Swaminathan) and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) director, and asked them to suggest measures to make the country self-sufficient in foodgrains. Subsequently, they found the climatic conditions in Punjab good for launching the Green Revolution.,” Rajewal said.
