Western Maharashtra, mainly known for the sugarcane produce, has largely been silent against the farm-laws. The few protests were largely driven by political outfits such as the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and its leader Raju Shetti.
On the eve of Republic Day, a protest march on tractors was taken out from Sangli to Kolhapur.
Also See: An overview of Farmers’ protests-role of Charan Singh
One reason, the region has not seen much protests is because sugarcane is a cash crop, for which the three laws may not directly be applicable, given that farmers have to sell their produce to nearby sugar factory.
For those growing other crops such as soya bean and wheat, the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC) Act, 2003, adopted in 2006, allows farmers to sell their produce either at APMC markets or to private traders. The law was enacted during the NCP-Congress rule when Shetkari Sanghatana, one of the first farmers’ outfits in western India, had demanded for freeing agriculture. If farmers from North India have been excessively relying on single crop, their western Maharashtra counterparts have been cultivating multiple crops on small plots. The multiple crops along with vegetables, according to agriculture experts, have ensured that money flows into the hands of farmers.
Sanjay Suryawanshi, a 53-year-old farmer from Loni Bhapkar village in Baramati tehsil, has been cultivating wheat and jowar in his 4.5-acre non-irrigated land. In 2020, Suryawanshi sold his 10 quintals of wheat grown on 0.5 part of the land at ₹1,500 per quintal to APMC in Baramati, Sharad Pawar’s home town.
“I could hardly recover the money I had put in producing the wheat as I had to pay the head-loader, middlemen and transporter,” said Suryawanshi. He said that if the Centre implements the three laws properly, there is no problem with some of the provisions of the laws, such as contract farming. On minimum support price (MSP), he said that farmers are not getting much anyway.
The critics of the farmers’ protest have often pointed out the benefits of contract farming, which is in existence in Maharashtra.
One such firm, Baramati Agro that was started by Appasaheb Pawar in 1988, underlined several benefits of contract farming. As per its website, the firm deals with various sectors such as animal and poultry feed, sugar and ethanol manufacturing, co-generation of power, trading of agri-commodities, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and retailing.
Appasaheb’s grandson Rohit said that he has not faced any problem from farmers even while running a firm involved in contract farming. He added,
“One reason why our firm never faced issues from farmers is because we have always safeguarded their interests. However, the same cannot be said about big companies whose owners farmers may not even know.”
On the current protests by farmers from Punjab and Haryana, Rohit said that the main concern of farmers is on MSP. He added,
“Under MSP system, farmers can sell their produce to private players if they are getting better rates. However, under contract farming, farmers do not have this freedom (to sell produce to entities they have not signed agreement with). The Centre is stressing that farmers have the freedom to come out of contracts. However, Clause 11 in the law says: “At any time after entering into a farming agreement, the parties to such agreement may, with mutual consent, alter or terminate such agreement for any reasonable cause”. This means unless both parties agree on the terms, they cannot come out of contract.”
