Whenever farmers come out to protest on the streets, it becomes an emotional issue. People of India revere farmers as “annadata”(providers of food). They know that farmers toil from morning till night, raise crops and feed themselves and the nation. That is the reason why no government, of whichever political persuasion, ever thinks of collecting income tax from agriculture.

In Madhya Pradesh, the state government has gone to the extent of giving an interest-free loan. If a farmer takes Rs 100 worth loan, he has to repay only Rs 90. But the problems with farmers is not the loan. They want remunerative prices for their produce. The irony is that if there is a bumper harvest, prices of produce fall. There arises the need to hike support prices. But farmer leaders must understand: violence is not the way out, they should find out solutions through talks.