Virus & Pest Threaten Paddy Plus Cotton; SKM Opposes National Cooperation Policy

At a time when Panjab’s paddy fields should be flourishing in the humidity of the monsoon season, farmers in six districts are vigilant as the Southern Rice Black-Streaked Dwarf Virus (SRBSDV) has hit Haryana for the third consecutive year. Experts from Punjab Agricultural University have issued an advisory urging timely vigilance, thorough inspections and immediate reporting of suspicious symptoms. The SRBSDV, transmitted by the White-Backed Plant Hopper leads to narrow upright leaves, poor root development, reduced plant height—often to one-third the normal size—and eventual withering of the crop. Also, after several years, the Green Leafhopper has returned to cotton fields across north India in unexpectedly high numbers. It has damaged crops at several places and has triggered concern among farmers. Experts attribute the sudden surge in Leafhopper population to favorable weather conditions—above-average rainfall, persistent humidity, an increase in rainy days, and continuous cloud cover. Meanwhile, the Indian Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, has recently proposed the National Cooperation Policy (NCP) 2025. The policy gives expansive jurisdiction to the new Cooperation Ministry to design framing policy, coordinate cooperation across sectors and states, and to train personnel of cooperative departments and institutions. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has opposed NCP saying it violates the federal structure of the Indian Constitution by attempting to centralize control over cooperative societies, a domain that constitutionally belongs to the states. SKM alleges that the NCP 2025 lacks vision to protect the rights and livelihoods of farmers, workers, and marginalized communities and is instead a backdoor mechanism to facilitate the entry of corporations into agriculture. SKM has called for a nationwide protest on 13 Aug under the banner Corporations Quit India and appealed to all political parties and state governments to join the protest to oppose the policy.