History of the Festival
The 14th or 15th of January every year marks the first day of the Tamil Calander Month “Thai” which marks the first day of the Harvest Festival, celebrated since times immemorial in Tamil Nadu and in the rest of India as “Makar Sankraanthi” a major “harvest festival” of the Agricultural country, India. Pongal is the one festival of Tamil Nadu that encompasses all the people of all castes, creeds and religions. In short, Pongal symbolizes the pride of the occupation of Agriculture the one and only key to Food Security. Agricultural is one of the key function of economic activities of a country, which could be never replaced just because there is no substitute for Food.
The Tamil Nadu Situation
In the case of Tamil Nadu, Agriculture contributes the major part of the the economy with more than 70% of the state’s population engaged in agriculture and allied activities for their livelihood.
Tamil Nadu has as an area of 1.3 Lakh Square km with a gross cropped area of around 58.43 lakh hectares of which the Gross Irrigated Area is 33.09 lakh hectares which is 57% and the balance 43% of the area are under rainfed cultivation. Annual food grains production in the year 2007-08 was 100.35 lakh metric tons. But now this is steadily declining due to industrialization, conversion of agricultural lands to real estate as Agricultural has been becoming an expensive affair. The misplaced priorities of public policy dealing with Agriculture sector by the union of India as well as the provinces have left Agriculture to suffer an irreversible and an irreparable loss of livelihood support and sustainability.
Growing Agrarian Stress
With growing import of Food grains with the integration of global markets from countries that heavily subsidize Agricultural sectors and as a sequel the comparatively lower price, a poor Indian farmer is subjected to a take part in an unfair competition while his/her farming activities are poorly supported by the State. In the recent three years, the price of fertilizers have risen almost 120%. When the costs of inputs of Agriculture are steadily rising, it’s obvious that the food producing farmer would also expect a higher return for his produces. The legitimate claims of the agrarian population get vanished in the thin air, with growing imports of agricultural produces with comparatively cheaper price, thus the very occupation Agriculture in India is being strangulated by (1) inconsistent public policy initiatives, (2) rise of market forces that have the ultimate say in fixing the price and (3) the lack of irrigation due to very many anthropogenic (human made) reasons.
Some Inconvenient Truths
The price of one litre of packaged drinking water almost equals a litre of Cow’s Milk and the price of imported onion is cheaper than indigenous one. When tender coconut with nutrients is sold for Rs.10/-, the choice of people go for Coke or Pepsi that is certainly not good as a Tender coconut in terms of nutritional value. People make argue its “Freedom of Choice” – but for what? ‘Freedom of Choice’ for strangling our indigenous economy?
The rise of quality standards and safety standards of food and beverages are no doubt essential development of a good living, but to what extent our indigenous food producers are sensitized about these emerging trends in Global Food Market? Is it not the moral duty of the State to provide the required inputs and prepare native food producers to compete with the international market?
The mushrooming middle men handling the supply of food to market have further worsened the situation where the price for the food crop does not reach the food producer, the economics of opportunities and accessibility have thoroughly sabotaged a food producer and we now shamelessly speak “We need Wall marts, because they give the best price to the food producers”, which is a dark truth. Why not we speak of providing the food producers a gateway of marketing their food themselves? What is the meaning for the silence of the Government in this aspect?
Farmers Suicide a National Shame?
Should we not be ashamed to celebrate Pongal in a situation when farmer’s commit suicide because of growing debts. What sin has she/he committed other than being a farmer? As my distinguished Professor Muzzaffar H.Assadi raises a fundamental observation: “Suicide is the language of the Farmers under stress. It is an idiom of expression that has gone unnoticed in the deaf ears of the mainstream population. A farmer dies as a farmer, not willing to change his/her occupation, speaks volumes of the culture of cultivation of India, what is called as “Agriculture”. Our future generation would never pardon us if we obliterate the food system and the Agriculture.
Declining Food Security – Are we going to Eat Gold?
When almost half the population goes to bed with hungry stomachs, when the farmer the backbone of food security commit mass suicides, the poor sensitization for food grain storage that accounts for more than 30% loss of food grain due to storage loss, steadily the conversion of agricultural lands are becoming real estates and industrial establishment, the mushrooming “Special Economic Zones” unfolding in the cultivation area of the country, the inflow of FDI into Agricultural sector as “Contract and Corporate Farming”, we are slowly becoming victims of Midas touch. We want all to change to Gold by our touch, not realizing that we cannot eat Gold.
Thinking loud
Why not we urban white collared folks pay a visit to our native place every vacation, stay there midst difficulties (this might also help us realize the harsh living of our rural population) and learn cultivation and also introduce farming to our kids. Even if it an expensive affair, midst other wasteful expenditure, why not makes a resolution that this year, my family will eat the rice cultivated in my native village?
Are we morally competent to celebrate Pongal? What can we as individuals do for restoring our own food security? Wont it means our exchange of SMS/words of Mouth as “Prosperous Pongal”, would mean “Preposterous Pongal”?
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