India News and Features Alliance (INFA)

After highlighting the problems of the agricultural sector in the Economic Survey and making large allocations to the rural sector, including agriculture, in the budget, the Prime Minister recently announced a Rs.25,000-crore revival package for the agricultural sector. The Centre has sought the States’ active participation in the revival programme. The money will be used to increase the output of grain, provide assistance for irrigation, research and restructuring of fertilizer subsidy programme etc.

The growth of the agricultural sector is critical to sustain nine per cent growth rate of the economy as a whole, in curbing inflation and in helping restrict large scale imports of grain and pulses as the prices of these products are very high in the international market. A year ago the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission observed: “The major weakness of the economy is the agricultural growth, which had decelerated from 3.2% in the period from 1980-81 to 1995-96, to an average of below 2% subsequently.” This is in sharp contrast to the performance of the manufacturing and the service sectors which are recording double digit growth.

Professor M.S. Swaminathan, the architect of Green Revolution in India, has been expressing his concern for a couple of years now over the trends in the agricultural sector. He is disturbed by the fact that there are no real policies in the agricultural sector except subsidies. He is also agitated over the fact that nothing is being done to check the conversion of prime agricultural land into non-farming land. Commenting on the revival package Prof. Swaminathan says that the allocation is not just enough to take up all the schemes as indicated therein, but should be used by the States to narrow the yield gaps “in the second fertile crescent comprising West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Orissa.”

Increasing the yield per hectare is urgent since independent studies have pointed out that the things will not be the same in 20 years from now. Researchers have shown that if the food productivity continues to decline the demand for cereals will exceed domestic production by 23 million metric tonnes by 2020. India by then will be a net importer of foodgrain to feed its population.

It is common knowledge that productivity of Indian agriculture is much less than the agricultural productivity of other countries, and that the Indian agriculture has a long way to go to realize its goals; we have now no option left but to make conscious efforts to increase our productivity and bring it at par with the international standards.

But productivity cannot be increased by enhancing allocations; it requires high quality research to develop high yielding varieties of seeds and then guide farmers to use them. The potential of increasing agricultural productivity in India is immense. If other countries can get three to five times the production per hectare of any agricultural product why can't India at least double its output per hectare of the agricultural produce? The potential for such an increase exists and there is no reason why India cannot achieve this. But it calls for a well thought out strategy based on agro-climatic zones, which is absent in this revival package.

It is really surprising that in spite of the fact that India has spent so much on agricultural research, it has not yet been able to produce seeds of high yielding varieties of international standards--seeds that can change the face of Indian agriculture. There has to be some match between the funds we spend on agricultural research and the actual results we get in the form of produce per hectare.

It is also a known fact that India is not using its agricultural inputs to the optimum level. A country like China which has less cultivable land than India has developed one of the best water management systems to get the maximum advantage. Similarly, Israel has turned desert into an arid land again mainly through its water management system.

Sixty years after independence our agriculture is still dependent on rainfall and any shortfall in rainfall during any year can severely upset our crop targets. And whatever water we have for the agricultural sector, most of it goes waste because of mismanagement. A large number of countries have gone in for drip irrigation system, which at the moment can be said to be the best irrigation system for a number of crops.

Therefore, we need to rethink our irrigation policy and either develop our own system or scout for one available with other countries and, if possible, outrightly buy the technology and implement it.

While it will take time to develop new high yielding varieties of seeds and start new irrigation works, one thing which the Centre and the States can do together on an urgent basis is to check the wastage of grain, vegetables and fruit. It is reported that one third of our total agricultural produce consisting of grain, vegetables and fruit is wasted each year for want of storage and marketing facilities as well as food processing facilities; only two per cent of our agricultural produce is processed.

The food processing facilities set up near the farms will not only cut this wastage but also provide more money to the farmers. Part of the package money should be used to storage cooperatives, marketing cooperatives and processing cooperatives. The private sector can also be encouraged to set up these facilities. The Minister for Food Processing has plans for setting up more than 100 food parks to encourage food processing industry; there are also plans to allow foreign investment in these parks.

It is common knowledge that the development of agriculture has been uneven in the country; some States like Punjab, Harayana and U,P. have gone through the phase of green revolution while States like Orissa and Bihar have yet to go through this phase. This implies that we have still a vast untapped potential for the development of agriculture in the country. The revival package will hopefully address this question. Instead of having an all India agricultural strategy it may be more meaningful to have a state specific agricultural strategy with due respect to climatic zones within the overall general national agricultural strategy so that the specific local cultural, social and economic factors as well as climatic factors could be taken into account for the rapid development of the agricultural sector.

Therefore, in order to avoid any shortfall in grain production and other agricultural products relative to our needs as has been witnessed recently, we must move fast to increase our productivity. There is an urgent need to have a region-wise agricultural plan for production of grain and commercial crops. There is also a need to revamp the agricultural research to make it more meaningful. A quick breakthrough in the agricultural sector is needed to keep the overall growth rate over nine per cent.---INFA