Farmer suicides a big issue in UK too, says British delegation

Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi

Hoshiarpur, February 13

Even though Britain and India are at different ends of the globe, yet farmers in both countries face several similar problems. Farmer suicide is a big issue in England too, if a 22-member group of farmers from northern England, Wales and Scotland are to be believed.

However, there is definitely a difference on account of the government help; in England, farmers do not get any kind of subsidy, nor does the government system help them in marketing in any way. There, farmers are given one-time annual cash assistance instead of subsidy and other items from the government. Now the government there is going to end this scheme too. Some of the farmers in this group shared their views with the Jalandhar Tribune.

Profession not very profitable

The situation of farmer suicides in England is similar to that of India. This issue is serious among farmers in their 30s. Farmers of this age group commit more suicides. One reason for this is also that agriculture is not very profitable. —Annie Lewis, Woman farmer

During their three-day stay at Citrus County Farm Stay in Hoshiarpur, farmers visited Harkirat Singh’s Orchards here in Chhawani village, an advanced dairy farm run by young woman entrepreneur veterinarian Dr Sarah Kaur Cheema in Dallewal village and agriculture farm at various places. The farmers and dairy farmers involved in the group shared their ideas with the farmers here and informed them about their techniques.

Accompanying this group of farmers, a representative of the Ministry of Tourism, Munish Bakshi, said for 15 days, they would see and understand agriculture in different states and share their experiences with the farmers. After Punjab, this group would visit Jaipur and Uttar Pradesh to visit various places to share his experiences with the farmers.

“Farmer suicide is a big issue in England,” said mother-daughter duo Helen Lewis and Annie Lewis, who are veterinarians and run a sheep farm. Dairy farmer couple April Towers and John Towers, from Lancashire in England, said their dairy farm ‘Brades Farm’ had around 800 animals, including 450 milking cows. They produce around 4 million litres of milk a year. They said milk is not used without processing in England and the rules are very strict in this matter.

John said they prepare specially processed milk, which is completely supplied to a processing unit which further supplies it exclusively to Barista, a multinational coffee chain. According to John, the government does not provide any kind of subsidy or other facilities for dairy farmers or agriculture there, although lump sum annual financial assistance is being provided to farmers for decades. John said in 2022, the government the government decided to end it as well, due to which it is will be completely phased out by 2027. They said earlier they were getting an annual assistance of 30,000 pounds for their farms, but now it has decreased to 20,000 pounds this year and it will be completely abolished by 2027.

Similarly, farmer couple Alun Jones and Richards Jones told this Correspondent that they have about 600 acres on which they grow wheat. Interestingly, most farmers in England grow only one crop a year. He said apart from one-time financial assistance, neither any kind of subsidy nor assistance is provided to them by the government nor any kind of facility is provided by the government regarding the availability of seeds or fertilisers, etc.

Not only this, there is no arrangement or assistance by the government for the marketing of their agricultural produce and they have to sell their products directly to the traders. According to the Johns couple, there are very strict rules regarding the use of fertilizers by the government and every year they have to get soil samples from every hectare of their land and get them tested, for which no facilities are provided by the government, but its monitoring is done strictly. He said that agriculture is not a much profitable business in England, although these days the farmers are definitely getting the benefit of the increase in the prices of foodgrains due to the war going on in Ukraine.

Dairy farmers Brian Wilson and Philip, who are in the meat production business, also said that they were surprised to see the way non-milking cows are being handled in India.