11 Point Visionary Agricultural Agenda

Although intended for India this is certainly a plan that could - and should - be embraced by all of us everywhere.
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original-gmwatch

11 Point Visionary Agricultural Agenda for the Eleventh Plan

c/o Bharat Mansata

The finalization of India's Eleventh Plan for the next five years is rapidly entering its decisive phase. On May 29, 2007, the NDC (National Development Council) is scheduled to hold a critically important meeting. This will determine if our Government's policies invite a deepening of the disaster that is overtaking Indian agriculture; or will they address basics with some politically, economically and ecologically intelligent, indeed visionary, decisions?

While none can dispute that Indian farmers – constituting 65% of our population – are facing unprecedented, multiple crises, a small but powerful (and now worried) agro-business lobby is furiously at work to ensure that its boat is not rocked, no matter how severe the magnitude of people's suffering. This corporate lobby is pushing for more of the same bitter prescription that set in motion the pauperization of Indian farmers. If anything at all seems new, it is the no-holds-barred thrust to broker GM (Genetically Modified) seeds and species, garbed as an illusory savior, but which will only worsen to breaking point the desperate financial and ecological problems that Indian farmers face.

The frightful prospect of "a quarter billion potential economic and ecological refugees – uprooted by mounting farm production costs and a rapidly degrading natural resource base," – looms starkly on the horizon. It is high time that all voices of sanity rally together in huge numbers to stop this madness, and to proactively support the growth of a nationwide holistic, organic agriculture movement that alone can offer a viable and peaceful future – with prosperity, health, and a greater measure of equity.

Given below is a rational, non-partisan 11-point Agenda for the Eleventh Plan – a 'Civil Society and Farmers' Representation' to reinvigorate Indian agriculture. This has been collectively drafted with the pooled inputs and feedback of a large number of concerned people from different regions of India. They include experienced farmers, policy analysts, and enlightened agricultural scientists. The compelling logic of the holistic, sustainable path that is proposed, speaks for itself.
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complete article here