Mandia in lower Assam’s Barpeta district has started looking beyond short-term gains.
This year, the markets delivered a good deal for Mandia’s potato growers, as a bad harvest in Uttar Pradesh pushed the prices up to ₹1,800/quintal.
After factoring in the production cost of ₹800/quintal, the farmers made a profit of about ₹1,000/quintal, the highest price potato growers have received to date.
Mandia’s farmers, however, are not celebrating.
They know that the bullish market could be a flash in the pan because the highs are followed by at least four years of low prices, making survival difficult.
Last year was pretty bad with prices dipping to ₹350-₹400/quintal after putting in the same ₹800/quintal cost of production. The year 2023 also saw distress sale of ₹2/kg and the dumping of the tuber on the road and by the Brahmaputra, about 4km from here.
Mandia’s nearly 10,000 potato farmers, many of whom are landless, produce around 16-17 lakh quintals over a 40,000 bigha crop area in the October-to-March season and keep the local Muslim-majority region’s economy buzzing.
But conversations with a section of Mandia residents, including schoolteachers Makbul Hussain and Abul K. Ahmed, deed writer Nasiruddin Ahmed, retired college teacher Sohrab Ahmed, revealed that farmers’ issues have “not” received the attention they deserve from the successive governments so that the farmers could “lead a life free of tension”.
The quartet said issues such as the long-pending demand for a cold storage, minimum support price (MSP), timely distribution of fertilisers and quality seeds are missing from the electoral discourse.
Barring the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) candidate Zabed Islam (backed by the BJP), the other contenders such as the Opposition’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal or the Congress’s Rakibul Hussain have hardly shown any urgency, holding a rally in Mandia — part of the Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency — only on Saturday, something they pointed out reflects the seriousness of the parties about farmers’ issues, says Hussain.
The CPM-backed Krishak Sabha and the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) take up these issues from time to time but without success. The local Congress MLA’s efforts, too, have not yielded any result.
In the same breath, the quartet admitted that Mandia’s other infrastructure such as roads and power supply has improved over the years and they also receive government welfare schemes but the focus on farmers’ real issues, which could lead to overall development, is missing.
They said farmers have to fend for themselves against the vagaries of weather and the market. An agriculture department official in Barpeta said two cold storages were sanctioned a couple of years ago but there is “hardly” any progress.
Sohrab Ahmed said: “Elected representatives have not done justice to the farmers here even though they have contributed to the economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said (in 2016) that farmers’ income would double (by 2022) but that never happened."
“To achieve the income goal, basic facilities such as cold storage (to prevent rotting of produce and distress sale), timely availability of quality seeds and fertilisers, irrigation, ready market and potato-based industries should have been ensured,” Ahmed said.
Makbul Hussain, Nasiruddin Ahmed and schoolteacher Abul Kasham Ahmed, who are also into potato farming, echoed the retired college teacher, reflecting the disquiet among potato farmers, and this could play a part in the eventual outcome of Dhubri seat.
“We have basic demands. We need a cold storage in Mandia so that we don’t have to travel 45km to Sorbhog, which has a cold storage but can store only 30,000 quintals. We want quality seeds and fertilisers on time but these are not happening. The government’s seriousness and focus to address our issues are missing. We cannot be satisfied with short-term gains,” Hussain said.
Mandia falls in the Barpeta Lok Sabha constituency but was included in the Dhubri constituency after a delimitation exercise in 2023.
Dhubri has nearly 27 lakh voters, mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims spread over 11 constituencies, one of which is Mandia. Ajmal, most agree, is a formidable candidate with a huge following in the Bengali-speaking Muslim belt. Seeking a fourth straight term, he is being challenged by seasoned Congress MLA Rakibul Hussain.
Political observers believe a Congress win could change the political landscape in the Muslim belt. Muslims make up for over 34 per cent of the state’s population.
The AIUDF and Congress were allies in the 2021 Assembly polls but soon fell apart. By fielding Hussain, the Congress has sent a message that it has nothing to do with the “communal” AIUDF.
“Sometimes we feel sad thinking why our issues are not being addressed. Sometimes we suspect it could be because we belong to the Muslim community. Most political parties are busy indulging in Hindu-Muslim politics than talking about pressing issues such as unemployment, price rise, flood and erosion, cold storage and MSP of ₹1,000/quintal for potato farmers and land patta for landless farmers. This time we are looking for a change,” said Makbul Hussain, suggesting a quiet political churning in run-up to the polls.
Dhubri votes on May 7
