Saturday, March 20, 2010

HARVEST OF GRIEF ( NEW FILM )

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

Blessed with agricultural abundance, Punjab is a land of plenty... plenty of grief. The state government does not want you to know that Punjab's farmers are killing themselves, driven to despair by mounting indebtedness and the rising cost of cultivation. This film brings out the stark dichotomy of a once propsperous state whose farm output is still second to none, but where small and landless farmers are being pushed to the brink of grinding poverty.

Mechanisation, indisciminate use of fertilisers and pesticides, rapid soil depletion, rising seed prices, and the vice-like grip of loan sharks have landed Punjab in a severe agricultural crisis.Suicides by famers are fast becoming the norm, leaving in its trail widows and orphans grappling with an uncertain future.

The Green Revolution has pushed Punjab agriculture into the red. The countryside is bleeding and its proud farmers are wilting. Is there a way out of this morass?

Harvest of Grief explores the real picture...

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