By Editors
The speakers at this webinar on October 27, 2024 were Adinatha Chavan, editor of Agrowon; Deepa Kadam, senior correspondent at the Sakaal Media Group; Neeraj Hatekar, professor at the School of Development at Azim Premji University; and Seema Kulkarni, member of the Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch (MAKAAM). The discussion was moderated by senior journalist Alka Dhupkar.
Experts discussed rural distress and its impact on polls; the need for fair crop prices, and how the government’s apathetic agriculture policy is forcing people to migrate to cities for jobs.
Deepa Kadam painted a bleak picture of rural Maharashtra where a large number of rural youths were forced to migrate to cities for low-paying jobs, as agriculture had become unsustainable.
Neeraj Hatekar felt that the urban bias in policy kept farm produce rates low, going against the interests of the farming community. Maharashtra’s dominant status in agriculture was on the decline thanks to lack of state policy support, low crop prices and lack of crop insurance support, noted Adinath Chavan.
Seema Kulkarni pointed out that while 50% of agricultural workers in Maharashtra are women, only 15% of landholders are women, and women are not recognised as farmers, largely depriving them of access to government schemes.
