Mr Bhalla, Your Data Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story of Farm Crisis

I have been a big fan of Surjit Bhalla’s writings. But has he presented the full picture this time? I am afraid not.

My first reaction after reading Mr Surjit Bhalla’s column “No proof required: Just why are farmers rioting?” in The Indian Express was: What the hell! Why have the corporates with significant rural exposure been talking about farm distress? And what are the planners and veteran economists basing their assessments on?

If the farmers are getting good price for what they produce, what are they complaining for?

Here is what Mr Bhalla writes:

We read a lot about collapsing food prices and the lowering of farmer incomes as identifiable causes of riots (and suicides). How have food prices performed over the last three years? The table documents the course of prices of six food items. Two dominant conclusions are, (i) producer prices (whether minimum support prices of the government of India or wholesale prices) have risen by about 5 to 10 per cent over the last year; (ii) at the same time, consumer prices of selected and volatile food items (fruits, vegetables and pulses) have stayed broadly constant over the last three years.