1 out of 3 farmers are tenants in Telangana; are excluded from any government support

A recent survey conducted on conditions of Farmers in Telangana, highlighted that while on one hand, there is mounting debt on tenant farmers; they do not get any substantial government support which is mostly given to land-owning farmers.

Details of the survey:

• Conducted by: Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV), an independent farmers’ organization based in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
• Key findings:
  • One out of every three farmers in Telangana is tenant farmers, shows high tenancy rate in the state.
  • The figure is double the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) estimates of 17.5 per cent tenant holdings in the state.
  • The tenant farmers were found to be excluded from all government support.
  • Statics of land distribution:
    • 36 per cent of farmers were cultivating leased land. Also, 19 per cent of these were

• • High Debt: Average debt due to agriculture per tenant farmer family was Rs.2.7 lakh. Of this, 75 per cent were private loans.
  • Dependence on Money lenders: Tenant farmers being dependent on moneylenders, fertiliser and pesticides dealers, gold pawnbrokers, commission agents, relatives, seed companies, and landowners for their investment.

Who are tenant farmers?

• A tenant farmergrows crops or raises livestock on land that's owned by someone else. Most tenant farmers pay rent to a landlord for a house and farmland.
• Originally, tenant farmers were known as 
• Tenant farming, is an agricultural system in which landowners contribute their land and a measure of operating capital and management while tenants contribute their labor with various amounts of capital and management, the returns being shared in a variety of ways.
• Payment to the owner may be in the form of a share in the product, or in cash, or in a combination of both.

Agriculture policy issues in India:

• Agriculture in India has been facing several issues such as fragmented land holding, depleting water table, deteriorating soil quality, increasing input costs, low productivity etc.
• Output prices may not be remunerative as farmers are often forced to borrow to manage expenses.
• According to a study jointly conducted by Nabard and Bharat KrishakSamaj (BKS), a farmers producers’ organization, in Punjab, more than 60 per cent of the ‘very high’ and ‘high’ distress small and marginal farmers (SMFs) did not receive farm loan waiver (FLW) benefits.
• In Maharashtra also, close to 42 per cent of the SMF whose distress category was ‘very high’ did not receive FLW benefits.
• Thus indebtedness is the key reason for several farmer suicides in India.
• Loan waivers can provide some relief to farmers in such situations.

Why they face exploitation?

• Due to unpaid debt taken by them in undefined interest rates from money lenders and landowners.
• Lack of education about crops and leads to crop failures.
• Non-inclusion in several government schemes for farmers
• Lack of Capital support
• Unable to get loan from banks, due unavailability of land or assets for mortgage.

Other Government Initiatives:

• Rythu Bandhu Scheme of Telengana:
  • It is a scheme of the Telangana government under which the state government extends financial support to land-owning farmers at the beginning of the crop season through direct benefit transfer.
  • The scheme is open to all resident farmers of the state who owned land.
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi:
  • All land holding eligible farmer families (subject to the prevalent exclusion criteria) are to avail of the benefits under this scheme.
• Mukhyamantri Harit Krishi Sanyantra Yojana in Bihar:
  • To make available the various farm of agricultural equipment, farm machinery
  • and other implements under the priority sector of Agriculture and allied activities to support the small and marginal farmers of the state
  • To balance the adverse economies of scale due to the high cost of individual ownership
  • To improve the mechanization in areas with low farm availability
  • To provide hiring assistance for various agricultural machinery or implements that are applied for the different operations
  • To expand more mechanized activities during cropping seasons in the large areas especially in small and marginal holdings