Unlike Bt-cotton, soyabean crop requires no major investment but promises high returns at Rs 2,000 per quintal

MUMBAI: The protein-rich soyabean is the new cash crop the government has been prescribing to the distressed cotton farmers of Vidarbha. Following revelations by a government fact-finding report that even a complete loan-waiver or revised PM package of Rs 5,890-crore would not solve the plight of over the nearly ten lakh marginal farmers.

Instead the government has proposed that the Vidarbha farmers switch over to an alternative crop for a better livelihood, as the Bt cotton cultivation has long become unviable with huge investments and unsatisfactory output. Apart from the expensive fertilisers and seeds, cotton offers extremely low returns, thereby forcing farmers to run to money-lenders and banks for loans.

Stating that the high nutrition value product was in great demand in domestic and international markets, Principal secretary Umesh Sarangi said, “Soyabean is the most lucrative cash crop as both the investment and the care required for soyabean farming are on the lower side. Vidarbha farmers, who are experimenting with soyabean farming, is fetching them Rs 2,000 per quintal.”

“Moreover, soyabean cultivation requires no extra water or fertilisers. In fact, when the soya pods ripen the plant sheds its leaves which turn into organic mature with time and enrich the soil. Thus, it helps in preparing the soil for a cotton crop.

Nicknamed “soyaman”, Sarangi has been pursuing the state policy-makers to promote alternative crop cultivation to improve the economic status of farmers. He believes that even the surplus sugar production in western Maharashtra is going to force the farmers there to consider alternative crop cultivation from the next year.

The state has recorded the highest ever production of sugar at 91 lakh tonnes this year (previous highest was 68 lakh tonnes), adversely affecting the sugar prices. Last season, fifty lakh tonnes sugarcane remained uncrushed and government had to compensate farmers at the rate of Rs 25,000 per hectare. The sugar crisis has set farmers to explore alternative crop pattern in western Maharashtra, too.

Earlier, at Khandesh (Jalgaon) the farmers resorted to horticulture (banana plantation) along with jowar/sugarcane farming to meet their financial requirements. Similarly, in Konkan, various NGOs working with government agencies are encouraging paddy cultivator to consider pineapple farming.



http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1135077

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