0:00:09.976,0:00:12.035
We are what we eat.

0:00:12.235,0:00:15.244
But how many of us know,[br]what we are actually eating?

0:00:15.244,0:00:16.949
How many of us know, [br]

0:00:17.380,0:00:20.279
what food does to environment[br]before it comes to our plate

0:00:20.645,0:00:22.321
How many of you know,

0:00:22.731,0:00:25.806
what food does to farmer,[br]who is producing that food?

0:00:26.080,0:00:28.663
Do you know? have you ever thought?

0:00:29.798,0:00:32.122
How many of you think[br]if you are eating food,

0:00:32.198,0:00:37.098
about the farmer who has produced it [br]or fate of the farmer who has produced?

0:00:37.831,0:00:39.886
You know, some of the questions[br]

0:00:40.002,0:00:42.782
which grappled me when I was[br]studying my agriculture.

0:00:44.982,0:00:48.395
While doing my Ph. D. in agriculture [br]I had a choice,

0:00:50.936,0:00:54.303
Like every young boy in 90's

0:00:54.767,0:00:58.078
I was also crazy about [br]getting into Indian Civil Sercvice

0:00:58.335,0:01:03.037
Reading the Indian Economy [br]I really understood about Indian Economy

0:01:03.241,0:01:05.389
by reading for an exam.

0:01:05.499,0:01:09.736
Finally by time I got into services,[br]I was selected for Indian Revenue Service.

0:01:11.134,0:01:15.063
But, I also had a choice of joining as [br]Agricultural Research Scientist.

0:01:15.433,0:01:16.765
It was tough choice.

0:01:17.101,0:01:20.152
I made my choice as joined as [br]Agricultural Research Scientist.

0:01:20.715,0:01:23.208
I thought, "I should continue [br]working with farmers."

0:01:23.432,0:01:25.244
(Applause)

0:01:25.910,0:01:29.075
But, that didn't last long,[br]I'll come to that.

0:01:32.411,0:01:35.341
Before I come to that, [br]let's understand ,"What is our food?

0:01:35.741,0:01:37.893
What we are eating? How safe is our food?"

0:01:38.811,0:01:40.806
All of you saw this news, sometime back

0:01:42.238,0:01:46.974
Pesticides residues in soft drinks [br]and bottled water.

0:01:48.801,0:01:50.207
But, forgot the next day.

0:01:50.654,0:01:52.196
Have you ever thought, [br]

0:01:52.196,0:01:56.047
How pesticides residues come into [br]this bottled water or soft drink?

0:01:58.805,0:02:01.695
If bottled water and soft drink had [br]pesticide residues,

0:02:01.695,0:02:04.776
The water you used to make tea or coffee[br]also must be having,

0:02:05.066,0:02:07.149
But we never worried about it.

0:02:07.309,0:02:10.042
The news is short the next day[br]we forget about it.

0:02:10.042,0:02:13.792
At least this must be a memory,[br]Noodles having heavy metals.

0:02:15.011,0:02:17.101
How many of you've thought,[br]

0:02:17.101,0:02:20.034
how did this heavy metals reached [br]in the Noodles?

0:02:20.353,0:02:22.138
If lead has to added in Noodles,[br]

0:02:22.138,0:02:24.535
Probably lead is more costly than Noodles.

0:02:25.034,0:02:27.051
Nobody will add it but it came.

0:02:28.931,0:02:32.067
If ingredients used to make Noodles[br]had the lead,

0:02:34.178,0:02:39.276
The "Aata" which you used to make [br]your "Chapati" also must be having.

0:02:39.963,0:02:42.885
Or the Samosa which you're eating[br]also must be having. Right?

0:02:43.947,0:02:46.453
But we don't connect the dots.

0:02:46.453,0:02:50.496
Same is the story when we hear about[br]pesticide residues in vegetables.

0:02:51.029,0:02:55.159
You all get horrified. [br]But, forget it in the evening.

0:02:56.110,0:03:02.604
We all think if we buy food at good place [br]or eat it in good hotel, it's safe.

0:03:03.377,0:03:05.371
Food is only as safe as it is grown.

0:03:05.945,0:03:08.034
End of pipe solutions doesn't work.

0:03:09.893,0:03:12.072
The pesticides which are [br]used in agriculture,

0:03:13.238,0:03:18.018
less than 1% actually kills the insects,[br]99% gets into the water,

0:03:19.825,0:03:22.801
get into the air [br]and comes back to your food.

0:03:22.976,0:03:25.432
We look at it very casually.

0:03:25.432,0:03:28.248
Everything happened around us[br]we look at it casually.

0:03:28.248,0:03:31.946
I'll give you one example,[br]While having the lunch I saw people

0:03:31.946,0:03:34.238
painting there, what was that?

0:03:34.238,0:03:35.950
Spray Paint.

0:03:35.950,0:03:37.178
Where does it go?

0:03:37.560,0:03:40.999
Part of it goes on to the board,[br]part of it into the air.

0:03:41.271,0:03:44.981
You all were eating there.[br]It comes there.

0:03:45.090,0:03:47.717
We all are educated,[br]We feel we can make connections.

0:03:47.717,0:03:48.985
We never make.

0:03:49.321,0:03:52.398
And we expect that farmer will[br]make those connections.

0:03:52.725,0:03:55.026
and produce safe food for all of us.

0:03:55.271,0:03:58.076
I think that's where disconnect between,

0:03:58.357,0:04:05.190
What we observe, what we know,[br]and how we act is the serious problem.

0:04:06.350,0:04:08.283
It's not only about the pesticides,

0:04:09.060,0:04:11.616
do you know the eggs [br]that you buy in the market

0:04:12.015,0:04:14.031
what kind of eggs you buying?

0:04:14.031,0:04:15.476
They are half cloyed eggs.

0:04:15.706,0:04:19.526
Half cloyed means they are produced[br]without male & female meeting together.

0:04:19.949,0:04:24.329
That's why if you hatch the eggs,[br]they won't make chickens.

0:04:25.036,0:04:28.271
But how they are produced?[br]They are produced by using estrogens

0:04:28.271,0:04:31.674
And what happen to those estrogen?[br]

0:04:31.755,0:04:34.142
When you eat those eggs?[br]they'll come back to you.

0:04:34.489,0:04:37.951
That's one reason today[br]pivot in girl child has advanced.

0:04:37.951,0:04:42.056
Gynic problems in women has increased.

0:04:42.056,0:04:44.642
Breast development in men has increased.

0:04:45.246,0:04:48.493
Do you know last year's India Today's [br]survey shows that,

0:04:48.605,0:04:52.263
the largest number of plastic surgeries [br]done in India of to remove breast in men

0:04:52.943,0:04:57.965
you got into that situation [br]where fruit is supposed to be healthy,

0:04:59.994,0:05:01.672
is creating all that problems.

0:05:02.244,0:05:06.967
It's not just pesticides or antibiotics[br]are growth hormones,

0:05:06.967,0:05:09.991
which are used in production.[br]But also how they are processed.

0:05:09.991,0:05:15.334
You might have heard the last one week[br]10 days doing rounds in all the media

0:05:15.334,0:05:17.004
artificially ripened fruits.

0:05:17.935,0:05:20.032
But why fruits are ripened artificially?

0:05:20.032,0:05:23.870
if all of you want to fruits [br]in off season.

0:05:24.028,0:05:26.035
How will they do it?

0:05:26.449,0:05:29.023
If you want mangoes in May,[br]how do you get mangoes?

0:05:29.973,0:05:34.308
You have to cut unripened one's [br]ripen it artificially and sell it.

0:05:34.962,0:05:37.302
Banana's which are seeing uniformed yellow[br]

0:05:38.037,0:05:40.648
What are they? [br]They all are carbon ripen.

0:05:42.519,0:05:45.320
The apples the shiny apples which you see,[br]

0:05:45.678,0:05:50.829
What are they? When were they produced?[br]Where were they produced? Do you know?

0:05:51.293,0:05:54.551
California apples, [br]you get apple from California

0:05:56.334,0:05:59.172
Can you keep it fresh?[br]They are coated with wax.

0:06:00.255,0:06:03.699
Go back to your home, [br]take apple from your fridge.

0:06:04.152,0:06:06.508
Just scratch it. You'll see the wax.

0:06:06.934,0:06:08.390
We are eating all that.

0:06:08.662,0:06:10.694
The watermelons which are red in color,[br]

0:06:11.161,0:06:15.061
they are injected with injections, color.

0:06:15.159,0:06:17.719
They are injected with growth hormones.

0:06:18.518,0:06:23.059
The milk which is sold,[br]we have seen in news last several years,

0:06:23.478,0:06:28.989
the reports which say, "The milk is [br]contaminated with synthetic milk."

0:06:29.886,0:06:36.092
If you want to have milk [br]at 40 rupees a liter thats what you get.

0:06:36.787,0:06:38.133
We want food cheaper,

0:06:39.966,0:06:43.099
and there is competition [br]between the companies

0:06:43.979,0:06:47.014
They pay low to the farmers,

0:06:47.014,0:06:49.796
They also contaminate it [br]and get away with that.

0:06:49.796,0:06:52.266
All brands of milk sold in Hyderabad,

0:06:52.272,0:06:55.462
prone to have [br]contaminated with synthetic milk

0:06:56.422,0:07:00.561
GM Foods, How many of you know about this?[br]How many of you've heard about this?

0:07:01.405,0:07:05.166
BT Brinjal, to tell you simply,[br]what BT Brinjal is?

0:07:05.943,0:07:09.285
when pesticide is sprayed from outside [br]it damages the environment.

0:07:09.530,0:07:13.987
Like I said,"99% goes into the environment[br]only 1% kills the insect."

0:07:14.482,0:07:18.301
So scientist thought why not we produce[br]pesticide in plant itself.

0:07:18.633,0:07:23.094
So plant produces insecticides.[br]So which ever insect eats plant will die.

0:07:23.094,0:07:25.753
But what happens to us?[br]Who eats that.

0:07:25.753,0:07:29.842
So there are several bio safety questions[br]in front of us which were never addressed.

0:07:30.107,0:07:35.330
What you see here, yellow, white,[br]golden rice which is going to come soon

0:07:35.330,0:07:36.992
You know why it was done?[br]

0:07:37.485,0:07:43.089
They say "vitamin A deficiency [br]is serious problem, so we will produce

0:07:43.089,0:07:44.948
vitamin A in the plant."

0:07:44.948,0:07:48.704
If you eat that rice you can have [br]as much as vitamin A as possible.

0:07:48.704,0:07:52.530
But do you know vitamin A is [br]fat soluble vitamin.

0:07:52.530,0:07:56.267
So it's not just enough to have vitamin A,[br]but you also need to have enough fat.

0:07:56.267,0:08:00.195
But if you have enough fat in your food[br]you don't need golden rice.

0:08:00.195,0:08:04.080
In 2005 we came across a farmer in Guntur,

0:08:04.080,0:08:06.988
Who was cultivating BT Bhendi.

0:08:06.988,0:08:08.909
We were shocked.

0:08:08.909,0:08:10.550
I said "How did you get it?"

0:08:10.550,0:08:12.397
He said,"Company gave me the seeds."

0:08:12.397,0:08:15.252
We went to the company.[br]They said,"We are doing a trial."

0:08:15.154,0:08:18.973
We went to the government.[br]Government said,"Yeah, That is seen."

0:08:18.973,0:08:23.626
They said, "You are not permitted."[br]Those were taken off in 2005.

0:08:23.989,0:08:28.592
2013, similarly we came across a cotton,

0:08:28.592,0:08:32.573
Kerbside tolerant cotton which is grown.[br]No permissions.

0:08:33.271,0:08:36.751
In 2009, when BT brinjal was permitted [br]there was public discussions.

0:08:37.144,0:08:39.907
But It was the only time [br]there was for public discussion,

0:08:40.230,0:08:43.184
to introduce whether we need a food or not[br]And it was banned.

0:08:43.716,0:08:47.480
Sometimes, some wise politicians [br]take better decisions.

0:08:48.079,0:08:52.305
But by this we would have [br]flooded with GM foods.

0:08:52.305,0:08:54.762
Today there is case pending in[br]Supreme Court,

0:08:54.762,0:08:57.938
there is expert committee appointed by[br]Supreme Court.

0:08:57.938,0:09:01.057
Which said, "We don't need this [br]for next 10 yrs. Let's wait."

0:09:01.057,0:09:03.096
There is parliament standing committee [br]

0:09:03.096,0:09:05.469
which was appointed it also said [br]"We don't need."

0:09:05.689,0:09:09.947
But, you don't know how they are [br]going to come into your plate.

0:09:09.947,0:09:14.147
Food is not only useful energy[br]but also good for your health.

0:09:14.147,0:09:17.576
It can treat many of the deceases.[br]Food is a medicine.

0:09:17.576,0:09:21.273
It can act as preventive medicine and[br]It can also act as a curative medicine.

0:09:21.273,0:09:26.074
I know many people who are working on[br]treating autism with good food.

0:09:26.074,0:09:28.531
Many of the problem which you are seeing

0:09:28.531,0:09:34.019
Obesity, diabetes, blood pressure[br]all are because of the food which you eat.

0:09:34.019,0:09:36.253
You need to make right choice[br]about your food.

0:09:36.253,0:09:38.437
Second, What food does to the environment.

0:09:38.437,0:09:40.837
Let's look at ecological footprints.

0:09:40.837,0:09:43.957
How many you have seen rice fields?[br]Almost all, right.

0:09:43.957,0:09:46.557
What comes to your mind [br]when we think of rice fields?

0:09:46.987,0:09:51.380
Full of water. How much water it takes[br]to produce an acre of rice?[br]

0:09:53.510,0:09:55.244
6 million liters.

0:09:56.935,0:10:00.148
6 million liters per acre of rice.

0:10:01.032,0:10:05.168
Which is equal to 100 families [br]annual consumption.

0:10:05.634,0:10:09.169
1 family of 5 members eats about [br]a Kg of rice a day.

0:10:09.169,0:10:12.996
Which is equivalent to tanker of water.[br]180 showers.

0:10:12.996,0:10:18.348
All of us want to eat rice,[br]more and more water you need

0:10:18.393,0:10:20.785
in production of rice.

0:10:20.785,0:10:22.606
You were making calculation

0:10:22.607,0:10:27.687
how much 1 meal of rice in Hyderabad [br]costs an environment?

0:10:28.257,0:10:30.496
It's probably as big as, all over a dam.

0:10:30.751,0:10:33.292
We need to worry about,[br]the ecological footprints.

0:10:34.122,0:10:37.729
It's not just about the water, [br]about pesticides, about growth hormone.

0:10:37.927,0:10:42.012
Everything. What agriculture leaves [br]before it comes to you plate?

0:10:44.142,0:10:46.157
Not just that. [br]What it does to farmers?

0:10:46.233,0:10:50.191
The more and more pesticides you spray[br]insects get resistance. They don't work.

0:10:50.211,0:10:52.208
First time you spray,[br]second time you spray

0:10:52.208,0:10:54.546
third time you spray it,[br]fifth time you drink.

0:10:54.546,0:10:57.431
That's what we have seen [br]along farmer suicides.

0:10:57.531,0:11:00.697
The fall outs of such things is [br]increasing cost of cultivation,

0:11:00.931,0:11:02.981
but prices are not increasing.

0:11:03.108,0:11:08.128
You know 1 Kg of rice costs [br]Rs. 2100/- as per government calcuations

0:11:08.128,0:11:10.196
But today price is on 1400 for farmers.

0:11:10.508,0:11:14.309
Today a ton of sugarcane is Rs. 2000/-

0:11:14.309,0:11:16.646
A ton of firewood is Rs. 4000/-

0:11:17.996,0:11:19.689
How farmers can live?

0:11:20.126,0:11:22.267
The policies are also lop sided.

0:11:23.267,0:11:29.262
Today average income of 83% of farmer[br]in this country is only Rs. 5000/-

0:11:29.262,0:11:32.262
Only Rs. 5000/-

0:11:32.262,0:11:35.273
So farmers have lost [br]their economic independence.

0:11:35.420,0:11:38.300
Not just economic independence,[br]physical independence as well.

0:11:38.523,0:11:42.350
This were photographs taken farmers were [br]standing in queue for fertilizers.

0:11:42.798,0:11:44.688
Standing in queue for seeds.

0:11:44.688,0:11:46.465
Seeds which they can produce.

0:11:46.704,0:11:49.737
Fertilizer which they can[br]make by composting.

0:11:49.801,0:11:51.615
But they are not subsidized.

0:11:51.615,0:11:53.802
If you buy it in a market,[br]they are subsidized.

0:11:53.829,0:11:56.239
Lop sided policies from government.

0:11:56.885,0:11:58.848
All these are lead to farmer suicides.

0:11:58.848,0:12:03.370
In last 20 yrs 3,00,000 farmers [br]have committed suicide.

0:12:03.741,0:12:05.236
Everyday about 48.

0:12:05.823,0:12:09.489
What is the point about just discussing[br]dark side of the picture?

0:12:09.489,0:12:12.503
How much and we can do [br]to change the situation.

0:12:12.503,0:12:16.421
Some of us working in agriculture.[br]Various institution came together

0:12:16.421,0:12:21.156
we started organization called [br]Center for Sustainable Agriculture in 2004

0:12:21.156,0:12:23.006
We started working with farmers,

0:12:23.006,0:12:25.532
telling them, [br]"How they can move away from

0:12:25.532,0:12:30.658
the high external input base agriculture [br]to low external input based agriculture?"

0:12:30.658,0:12:32.622
It was not easy.

0:12:32.680,0:12:36.182
But what we found is across the country [br]there were wonderful experiences.

0:12:36.182,0:12:40.071
But all those experiences were thought[br]in ideological framework.

0:12:40.227,0:12:41.887
They don't talk to each other.

0:12:42.399,0:12:45.343
There are good things, bad things [br]but if they discuss with each other

0:12:45.343,0:12:48.056
it would have been good[br]but they never talk to each other.

0:12:48.174,0:12:50.619
Main stream institutions [br]never worried about them.

0:12:50.730,0:12:52.712
So we brought all practices together.

0:12:53.197,0:12:56.848
Evolved what we called as sustainable [br]agricultural practices.

0:12:56.848,0:12:59.218
The first success came in Kulukulla.

0:12:59.218,0:13:03.154
Kulukulla is village in Kamang district[br]which became completely pesticide free.

0:13:03.301,0:13:07.984
The village which was speinding 60 LPA,[br]they completely stopped using pesticides.

0:13:07.984,0:13:11.005
(Applause)

0:13:11.005,0:13:15.645
Agriculture minister came.[br]He said, "Wonderful. What do you want?"

0:13:17.785,0:13:22.732
Farmers said,[br]"Make Andhra Pradesh pesticide free."

0:13:23.553,0:13:26.684
He was amazed. He said,[br]"Certainly I'll do. But what do you want?"

0:13:27.276,0:13:30.954
They said,"We are happy with what we have.[br]But change all the agricultural practices"

0:13:30.954,0:13:33.415
He brought all [br]agriculture university scientists of

0:13:33.415,0:13:37.517
department of agriculture together to see[br]and then make a change.

0:13:37.517,0:13:40.996
They said,"Sir, this is one village[br]we can't do it. It's not possible."

0:13:40.996,0:13:45.818
Then came Enabavi this is 80 km from here,[br]compeltely organic village.

0:13:45.818,0:13:49.616
The last three years over 10000 people [br]have visited the village to know

0:13:49.616,0:13:51.573
"How they are doing farming?"

0:13:51.573,0:13:54.344
"But this has also not changed anything [br]under government."

0:13:54.344,0:13:56.193
But consumers have changed.

0:13:56.193,0:13:59.061
Many people have started understanding[br]what is good for them.

0:13:59.061,0:14:02.388
This is an advertisement [br]which is The Hindu uses for itself.

0:14:02.944,0:14:05.038
This is the village called Dorli.

0:14:05.503,0:14:10.357
Dorli is in Vardha. After Telanagana,[br]you hear lots of suicide from Vardha.

0:14:11.357,0:14:15.364
In 2005 the village was put up for sale.[br]Farmers decided, we can't do farming.

0:14:15.364,0:14:17.362
They put up village for sale.

0:14:17.362,0:14:20.542
We went there in 2006 and said[br]"Can we start working together?"

0:14:20.542,0:14:23.740
Today all of them have repaid their loans.

0:14:23.740,0:14:26.049
All of them are back to farming.

0:14:26.049,0:14:27.044
(Applause)

0:14:27.044,0:14:30.103
It's possible. It's possible. [br]It's possible.

0:14:30.103,0:14:31.691
All examples are in front of us.

0:14:31.691,0:14:35.270
We also side by side worked with [br]woman self fill groups in Andhra Pradesh.

0:14:35.675,0:14:39.660
These are cover stories of "Down To Earth"[br]magazine which tracked the whole change.

0:14:39.660,0:14:42.850
We started with 225 acres in 2005.

0:14:43.540,0:14:49.370
Today its 35,00,000 acre in Andhra Pradesh[br]and Telangana together pesticide free.

0:14:49.649,0:14:50.849
(Applause)

0:14:51.028,0:14:54.182
50% use of pesticide [br]in state has come down.

0:14:56.969,0:14:59.380
We were 3rd in country [br]in terms of pesticide used

0:14:59.432,0:15:02.416
today we are 20th in the country.

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(Applause)

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This was part of a show on Satyamev Jayate

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some of you might have seen.

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In this show we had interesting discussion[br]

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On the other side was person[br]who was largest pesticide seller in country

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Towards end Amir Khan asked me a question,

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"I am fully convienced with[br]what you're saying and what you're doing

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It is possible to do it India. But how to [br]convince man who is sitting here?

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I said ask his brother, His brother is [br]largest organic exporter in this country.

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(Applause)

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And he said, "Yes."

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That shows people see it as business.

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If they sell pesticide, will sell pesticide[br]if they sell organic, will sell organic.

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You buy pesticides or [br]our organic pesticides

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or certificate from us, saying [br]"you haven't used any of these things."

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Farmers are made into consumers.

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But what our consumers are doing?

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Then what we did is we brought [br]some consumers in Hyderabad together

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to form a consumer cooperative called[br]Sahaja Aharam.

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We also brought all farmers together [br]to form farmers cooperative

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So that they can market directly.

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Today we've 20 farmer cooperatives

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who produce organically [br]and directly sell in the market.

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While many of you worry about [br]organic food prices.

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The oraganic Sahaja Aharam prices are [br]20% lower than the market prices.

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And 75% of what consumer pays go to farmer.

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In the regular market just 20%[br]which goes to farmer.

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(Applause)

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What do I see from here?

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I see a ray of hope.

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It's possible.

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If all of us can join together [br]we can make a change.

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But it's long way to go [br]in terms of Government Policies.

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Still there is serious crisis in agricuture.

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Yesterday you might have seen[br]about farmer's suicide.

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Today mornings newspaper,[br]you might have seen.

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Number of farmers are dying.

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It's a responsibility of all of us.

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Business as usual is not an option.

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We need to change as consumers[br]we need change as farmers

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We all need to come together [br]to pressurize government

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to make a change.

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Otherwise, the future is very very glee.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)