Loan waiver should focus on freeing farm land: Kolhe

MUMBAI: The Rs 60,000-crore farmers loan waiver announced by the UPA Government would be effective only if all agricultural land is freed from clutches of moneylenders and financial institutions, noted agriculturist Sureshrao Kolhe said.

Pledging the ancestral agricultural land marks a distressed farmer's first step towards suicide, the engineer-turned-organic farmer said, calling for a national debate on the disturbing phenomenon of farmers, specially those in Maharashtra, `dying like ants.

Agricultural land is the last thing any farmer would like to put on the bloc but thousands of farmers end up doing just that and commit suicide when they are unable to salvage it, Kolhe told media.

The strength of a nation comes from its land and the land is in trouble in these times of global food crisis, Kolhe said.

The maximum amount of relief per farmer should increased to Rs 50,000 per acre upto a maximum of Rs three lakh per farmer, irrespective of the type of land holding whether dry, rain-fed or canal/well-irrigated, he said.

Kolhe, whose modern farming techniques in Ahmednagar district attract visitors from around the country, also suggested a novel way to combat global warming.

Every farmer must be given a target of planting and maintaining at least 100 trees per annum in order to avail the relief package. It should be the farmer's responsibility to collect seeds, germinate and transplant the saplings, he said.