The New Nation - Internet Edition

Mohammad Shahidul Islam

IN THE past three or four decades, rice farmers have been driven into more and more difficulties. The chances are that the production of rice will cease within the next thirty or forty years and the people would have to depend entirely on the imports from other countries. The authorities, it must be stated, have been quite blind to what has happened. Many forces have been quite active in making the rice farmer a helpless person. Imported fertilisers and pesticides are very expensive. Many farmers find that the total cost of production exceeds the income they get from the produce. There is already a noticeable reduction in the extent of paddy lands in many parts of the country. In the last two decades of the British rule and in the first two decades after gaining independence, rural farmers in this part of the world enjoyed a fair degree of support from the authorities. There were government farms almost in every district, which provided guidance to paddy farmers. Farmers purchased seeds and other inputs from the government farms. The traditional farming ensured the degree of success for cultivation.

The most important farming practice was the holding of 'borgha' to carry out cultivation. The main activities would consist of ploughing, sowing, transplanting, weeding, harvesting and threshing. Land owners invited everyone in the village to participate in 'borgha' and also also organised a grand lunch for farmers. The extent of paddy land owned by different persons varied. Some owned bigger tracts of land and others owned smaller tracts. But the farming activity was carried on from one end to the other until the entire tract was covered. Some farmers did not own buffaloes but that did not affect the preparation of their fields. All fields were ploughed using a pool of buffaloes and bulls. The only expense involved was the cost of the grand lunch prepared for the occasion. Weeding was a special occasion when the ladies of the village participated. Threshing was done by night by harnessing the buffaloes and the operations were managed by the healthy bodied elders of the village and active young men.

Thailand is a country that produces the largest quantity of rice and exports a large part of it. Thailand produces tractors too. But they don't keep small farmers at the mercy of the market forces and tractor owners. They are doing everything possible to keep traditional practices relating to paddy cultivation alive and safe. At the beginning of the cultivation season the first ploughing at the auspicious time is carried out by the king. The farmers in the entire country start their ploughing following the start given by the king. With the patronage, guidance and enthusiasm of the king they started a buffalo bank in 1979 to ensure the supply of buffaloes to the small farmers. This is not a business venture. It is a national programme to assist the small farmers at no extra cost to them. The buffaloes are given to the farmers for use and while the buffalo is with the farmer and if it is a female and delivers a male calf it is gifted to the farmer. But if the calf is a female it has to be given to the bank pool. Persons who cultivate large extents of paddy land plough with the tractor. But the small farmer is safe with the buffalo. These noble ideas can easily be introduced in Bangladesh.

For humans life span has increased because of development of science and the advancement of medical science. But the recent food scarcity and increases in price has dealt a blow to millions of people who are poverty-stricken. The scarcity of food products that gave way to price increases has affected a majority of people in every country in the world. There is news that in several countries there are food riots taking place due to the scarcity of food and exorbitant food prices. In Morocco 34 persons were imprisoned for engaging in food riots. In Yemen 12 persons got killed during food riots. Food riots took place in Indonesia as well as in Italy.

The increase in population of the world has been a major concern. Because of that more and more arable land is becoming inhabitable lands. When forests are destroyed to build houses and dwelling places the wild animal that lose their dwelling habitats enter into cultivated lands and start to destroy and damage food crops.

Climatic change has now taken a worst turn. Untimely and unseasonable rainfall and resultant floods and dry seasons that follow are causing destruction of cultivated food. The increase in price of fuel due to the increase in the price of crude oil has increased the cost of cultivation as well as the cost of transport of food products.

The cost of animal feed has gone up and the expense incurred in the production of one unit meat is much more than that of the price of the unit of meat and it is a diseconomy.

The fall of the value of the American dollar and its fluctuation in value has an adverse affect on the world economy. The more the value of the American dollar falls the more is the increase in price of goods in the other countries of the world.

International organisations and countries of the world are taking interest and steps regarding the crisis situation worldwide. Conferences and discussions are held and short-term and immediate as well as long-term and durable actions are being implemented to redeem the world from the dangerous situation.

The use of grains and edible seeds for the production of gases and fuels should be permanently stopped. While millions of people are suffering without food to eat and the use of their food to produce fuel is a grave mistake. It should be stopped altogether. The OPEC countries should be pressurised to reduce the prices of crude oil. The use of windmills, sea wave power and solar energy to produce electricity should be encouraged.

The reliance on certain food stuffs for nutrition should be changed. The examples for these are wheat flour and rice. More than three billion people depend on these as their staple food. More and more yams, sea foods and vegetables should be consumed as an alternative to the staple food.

Improvement of agricultural activities and production is another necessity to overcome food scarcity. Farmers should be encouraged to adopt improved varieties of food crops that can withstand the climatic and seasonal changes and are resistant to plant diseases. Providing agricultural inputs at subsidised prices and purchasing and storing agricultural yields at guaranteed fair prices will encourage and give hope to farmers to engage in more agricultural production activities. It is a fact that in some parts of India farmers who sustained losses due to destruction of crops by a diverse whether conditions even committed suicide. Some farmers have given up agriculture and sought employment in other sectors even at lesser wages just to survive.

Helping farmers to safeguard their crops from being destroyed by wild animals is very important for the increase of food production. Utilising uncultivated land also is very important. It is said that China is going to take on lease lands in other countries to cultivate food. Brazil has decided and started destroying its rainforests to convert them into agricultural lands. Some agricultural products are converted into animal feed to increase the meat production.

This should be discouraged or banned in some countries. This could be done by legal controls and increases taxation on such industries. When meat is consumed the bones skins and blood of the animals that were farmed from the food they have eaten to live and all that goes to waste as refuse. The home garden cultivation should be encouraged.

By stabilising the value of dollar, improving food storage facilities, elimination of or reduction of the wastage of grains while handling and transporting and control of consumption could bring about a solution for the present food crisis the world is facing.