The information he compiled, based on the prices of 1979, revealed the huge gap between the cost of production and the price at which that crop could be sold in the market. According to him, the cost of producing one kilo of groundnuts was Rs. 4.30, while the market price was just Rs. 2.60. For rice, the cost of production was Rs. 3.25 per kilo, while market price was Rs. 1.25 per kilo. Production cost of milk was Rs. 3.80 per litre, when the average selling price was just Rs. 2.10 per litre. For onion, the cost of production was Rs. 50 per quintal, while market price was just Rs. 20. For cotton, the figures per quintal were Rs. 687 and Rs. 500. Cost of producing sugarcane was Rs. 288 per ton, whereas the factories paid at the rate of Rs. 142 per ton. If the selling price of his crop was less than the production cost, how did the farmer survive? The answer was; he survived by taking loans from every possible source. He could never repay that loan because he never had any net profit/income from his farming. If there was any sudden domestic expense like major illness or a wedding in the family or repairing the house further loans became inevitable. When the loans accumulated beyond certain level, he was compelled to sell a portion of his land. That was the reason for continuous reduction in the size of land-holding and also continuous increase in the number of landless farmers who had to become either farm labourer or go to the city for survival. His children would fare even worse, since after the distribution of land amongst different brothers, even in normal circumstances the size of each holding was getting less and less. Thus the cycle of poverty got created and it all started with the inadequate prices for the farm produce. This is why Joshi gave a single-point programme to his followers: “Securing remunerative prices for the farm produce.” According to him, the rationale for the remunerative price agenda was as follows – When White Gold Turned Red
Q
187
