The concept of rooftop farming is not new, existing from perhaps as far back as 500 BC
—the hanging gardens of Babylon. In the present context there have been many experimental rooftop farms too, a very successful one being the Brooklyn Grange in midst of the bustling New York City. India too is not far behind, with organic farms on rooftops been experimentally successful in many Indian homes panning Jaipur to Bangalore. What is however missing is a well-focused programme that provides near-doorstep outlets for organic farming technologies, inputs and training for ‘farm-at-leisure to food’.
The discourse in the following section attempts to address the felt need of our citizens—to enable access to food free of a cocktail of chemical residues. An easy option to grow chemical free produce for self consumption ensured through state-sponsored training programme/yojana will instil a sustained interest in organic farming at home. This farm-at-leisure programme will make every individual self-sustaining by providing them the opportunity to acquire a new set of skills. Experiments show that intensive rooftop or kitchen garden can provide good results at minimal cost. A step by step guide of how everyone may be mobilized to get into action, eat healthy and stay fit at the same time, with organic rooftop farming helping to shape up, has been put together.
To turn tiller
Step 1: To begin with, the scientific fraternity of India needs to put together an organic farming kit from ‘conception to culmination’. The start-up kit may include a bag of treated chemical free soil and a planting pot, organic seeds, organic manure and basic implements. An illustrated book/poster should be provided to show which crops/vegetables may be easily grown sans weedicide/pesticide and chemical fertilisers. The kit should also include information about required restructuring in case the ‘new’ farmer intends to qualify from one pot status to full terrace farm. The cost of the start-up kit may be subsidised by the state to provide an impetus to rooftop organic farming.
Step 2: India has a very fine meshwork of farming outlets manned by Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO), Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IIFCO), etc., which may be used in rural areas, while in the urban areas the government’s milk and vegetable dissemination outlets may be utilised.
Step 3: Once the kit is disseminated the ‘new’ farmer may be provided training during the establishment of the start-up kit. The involvement of the ‘new’ farmer is essential as he/she will maintain the organic farming momentum thereafter. This constitutes the support and training phase.
Step 4: To understand the strengths and weaknesses of the programme, record keeping must be imbued during the training period. Each kit will need at least one crop cycle support to induct the ‘new’ farmers into the vocation. A computerised data system will prove the efficacy of the system and ascertain the number of users.
Step 5: Long term support in terms of pest control and manure to enrich the rooftop soil must be ensured. This can be stepped up to the building of rooftop farms congruent with the building norms.
Step 6: With diffusion of innovation this experiment would extend into farmlands ensuring a healthier produce for the country. The Swajaivik Farming Scheme has an enormous potential and can change the way we live, making ‘grow to eat’ the catch phrase of tomorrow.
Endnote
It is without a doubt that everyone in this country laments that their food is contaminated. Given an opportunity every individual would try to atleast augment part of his/her diet into organic produce grown before their eyes. Thus the scheme would be very successful as most Indians are either vegetarian or near-vegetarian (considering that most of us don’t eat meat or fish on a daily basis). It goes without saying that a pilot project may be launched in any mega-city for initial year (or atleast two vegetable cycles) to test the scheme before an all-India launch.
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.