There has been a stark difference between the types of work ethics. The first type is where a person does nothing other than giggling and boasting about himself and his visions. Contrary to that, in the other type, a person is more focused on his work and mostly lets his/her work do all the talking. These major contrasting differences can be seen in the working style and ethics of so-called farm leader Rakesh Tikait and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
Export BOOM
The recent numbers on our agriculture export and ethanol production capabilities have brought exuberance in the confidence of our farmers. India has been steadfast in achieving new milestones in agriculture exports thanks to the proactive and pro-farmer initiatives and policies by the Piyush Goyal led Commerce Ministry. According to the PIB press release, India’s sugar export this sugar season is 15 times greater compared to the 2017-2018 sugar season. While the nation only exported 6.2 LMT in the year 2017-2018, a 15 times jump is being witnessed this year as contracts for the export of 90 LMT have been signed, and nearly 75 LMT has already been exported.
Read More: India’s agriculture exports will soon touch $50 billion
The welfare of farmers has been the prime focus of the government from the outset. It has been increasing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and also adopted many suggestions from the Swaminathan report. To facilitate sugar export, the government released Rs 14,456 Crores to sugar mills and around Rs 2000 Crores as carrying cost for maintaining buffer stock. To increase the income of sugarcane farmers, the government has also increased the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane by 31% in the past 8 years.
Also Read: Rakesh Tikait is worth a whooping Rs 80 crores: owns petrol pumps, brick kilns, showrooms
Dual Benefit: Import Substitution and Farmers’ Welfare
The market works on demand and supply. India has been producing an excess of sugar which can lead to very low prices for sugarcane, and a dilapidated state for sugarcane farmers. For this very reason, the government has been motivating and devising policies to boost sugar export. Moreover, it has found a permanent solution to the problem of excess sugar. It is encouraging sugar mills to divert excess sugarcane for the production of ethanol.
With this, India is aiming to kill two birds with one stone. This will boost the agriculture economy and reduce our oil import bill. The government has fixed the target of 10% ethanol blending by 2022 and 20% blending by 2025. Because of the push by the government, the ethanol production capabilities have increased from 421 crore litres to 867 crore litres in the last 8 years. This ethanol blending has created a new economic cycle. Since 2014, the sugar mills and distilleries have earned Rs 64000 Crores from the sales of ethanol to OMCs.
Poles apart personalities: Rakesh Tikait and Piyush Goyal
Any genuine concerns that the farmers had about the farm laws were overshadowed by Rakesh Tikait’s politics. Instead of highlighting their concerns, he turned them into a political fiasco to reap political benefits. He has tried to project himself as the biggest farm leader in the country on the basis of his twisted talks. Let alone the farmers of the country backing him, his own farmers’ outfit Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) kicked him out. But Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has been doing silent work in the back end and clearing all the roadblocks while boosting our agriculture export and strengthening our farmers. He is in continuous talks with his foreign counterparts to sign trade deals while keeping the farmers at the core of it.
Read More: Tikait Fired!
India has been an agricultural economy for a very long time and many tall farmer leaders have emerged in India. But, sadly only the imposters are reaping political benefits out of a few genuine concerns of our farmers. With the increasing agriculture exports and successful phasing up in ethanol blending, it is yet again a consolidated fact that concentrated efforts and good intent always delivers in the end, not the sweet talks or empty promises.
