Punjab need a new agriculture policy in view of recurring problems.

Agriculture of Punjab has been reduced to a market for chemical corporations, hence now the seed corporations. High cost chemicals and seeds are a recipe for debt creation. This is the first reason of the agrarian crisis in Punjab today.

Chemical agriculture is very water intensive. Chemical agriculture also reduces the capacity of the soil to hold water and needs more irrigation and destroys soil fertility by destroying soil organisms which makes soil fertile. There are no earthworms, on mycorrhizal fungi that make humus. Punjab soil is degraded and dying. When soils die, they take with them the prosperity of society. External inputs in agriculture also converts agriculture into a monoculture. Today, the government is failing to procure rice and wheat from Punjab farmers at MSP. And the invasion of GM Bt cotton has made the crisis worse.

A whitefly epidemic has devastated 60% of the Bt cotton crop in Punjab and farmers have used 10-12 sprays, each costing Rs 3,200. Also there is the high cost of Bt seeds sold by Monsanto Mahyco. In Maharashtra, Haryana, and Punjab, farmers growing non Bt desi cotton have not been impacted by pests like Bt cotton has. Organic farmers in Punjab, too, had no whitefly. Instead of controlling pests, Bt crops are creating pests, as is evident from the outbreak of whitefly which destroyed more than 80% of the Bt cotton crop in 2015.

Source:http://indianexpress.com/