Open Forum
New Delhi, 24 June
2020
Agricultural
Transformation
PRIORITISE SMALL,
YOUNG FARMERS
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
There is some good
news coming from the farm sector. The lockdown hasn’t much affected agriculture
because of normal rabi crop and government expects around 3 per cent or even
more growth in the current fiscal, though overall GDP may witness
contraction. However, this is the time when modernisation and diversification
needs to be undertaken to ensure increased production and productivity, not
just of cereals but also of other crops and vegetables and fruits.
Reports also indicate
that wheat procurement touched an all-time record of 38.2 million tonnes so far
in 2020-21 marketing year, with Madhya Pradesh surpassing Punjab as the
country’s biggest wheat procuring State. Also its 42 lakh farmers have been
reported to have benefitted and a total amount of about Rs 73,5000 crore has
been paid to them towards MSPs for wheat, according to Union Food & Public
Distribution Ministry.
The government’s
recent package for agriculture and market reforms, feel experts, is expected to
be beneficial. Director, National Institute of Agricultural Economics &
Policy Research (NIAP) Dr Suresh Pal, points out that government support and
policy reforms should be used “for establishing more compact and efficient
supply chains and attracting business sector in agriculture”. However, seed
sales may fall by around 25 per cent if farmers run out of credit, which is
quite likely.
Keeping this in mind,
the Centre unveiled Rs 1-lakh crore fund to build agri infrastructure to raise
productivity and make the sector globally competitive. Apart from this, Rs
20,000 crore has been allocated for fishermen, Rs 15,000 crore animal husbandry
infrastructure development funds and Rs 10,000 to help micro food units build
brands and go global. Moreover, a Central law would be enacted to give
farmers the choice to sell produce through multiple channels.
Thus, it’s expected
that farmers will no longer be bound to sell their produce only to licensees of
mandis. The likely fallout would result in corporatization of food supply
chains and give big thrust to contract farming, thereby reducing the political
clout of mandi (wholesale market) administrators.
The Essential Commodities Act, including cereals, edible oils, oilseeds,
pulses, onions and potatoes to be deregulated, would be amended.
Meanwhile, the CCEA
approved the increase in minimum support prices (MSPs) for 14 crops which they
found to be 50-83 per cent higher than the cost of cultivation. The support
price of paddy was marginally hiked by Rs 53 per quintal to Rs 1868 per quintal
for the 2020-21 crop year, while rates for oilseeds, pulses and cereals were too
raised. Though with increasing costs not much financial benefit may accrue to
farmers but the process will help them take a call on which kharif (summer)
crop to grow as sowing picks up with the arrival of the southwest monsoon.
States are expected
to carry out reforms at the local level to allow farmers to sell their produce
outside registered mandis. Though a
good monsoon is expected this year, finance may be a problem for States, which
are reeling under severe economic stress due to the corona pandemic. However, it’s
encouraging to note that in some States, agricultural diversification has taken
place and giving reasonable returns to a section of farmers.
The problem is with
small farmers, who have very little land and lack financial support. Not only
do they have to borrow from private moneylenders but lack access to technology
to increase productivity and also diversify into value-added products. There
has not been any initiative by most State governments to form cooperatives at
the grass-root level with very small farmers so that they could increase
productivity through semi-mechanised farming and induction of appropriate
technology.
Experts are of the
opinion that a shift in cropping pattern will ease pressure on already
over-stretched groundwater resources in Punjab, Haryana and many other regions
in other States. As is known, paddy-wheat being heavy water dependent crops,
farmers have reason to over-exploit groundwater. Some programmes have been
taken up by Punjab and other States to wean farmers away from cultivating
paddy-wheat on at least one million hectares, which would mean a substantial
saving of water. But more needs to be done, not just for water saving but also
increasing earnings from diversified crops.
It needs to be
emphasized that thrust be given to agriculture and agro-based industries as
there is heavy potential in this sector. Though ‘Make in India’ is being
reiterated, India lacks the innovative skill or technological expertise to
compete in the international market. Alternatively, not only is there potential
in diversification in the agricultural sector, the country could be able to
gear up exports.
Additionally, if
agriculture prospers, this would change the face of rural India. Unfortunately,
whatever incentives the government has given to farmers, over the years, these
have gone to the big and some medium farmers. It’s imperative that incentives
be targeted to small farmers and sharecroppers so they improve earnings. Remember,
India’s land holdings are extremely small – 86 per cent of land holdings are
less than 2 hectares. Indian farmers therefore, suffer due to lack of size and
scale, technology seeds and fertilizer inputs and are unable to take market
risks. In meantime, it’s encouraging that more farmers are cultivating
vegetables and fruits to increase their earnings.
Thus, there is need
for the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to do: open more
extension centres at block levels; ensure small farmers get requisite technological
support; set up more agricultural universities so that farmers can diversify
and cultivate value-added products; make the lab-to-land approach a reality, for
which government’s role is critical.
Unfortunately, the
question remains why the government hasn’t disbursed surplus land to
sharecroppers or taken care of them. Notwithstanding that programmes and
incentives are encouraging, extra care needs to be taken to ensure small
farmers and sharecroppers can become self-sufficient through integrated and
diversified agricultural techniques.
This time round, the
government must plug the leakages. Various incentives announced by the
government actually don’t reach the intended beneficiaries. There is alleged corruption
in rural areas and stories of having to pay bribe to elected representatives or
their nominees to be eligible for government subsidies is no secret. Worse, cooperative
and rural banks too are not above board.
The lockdown has
revealed that ways and means need to be found to halt migration from villages
to urban areas in search of employment. While agricultural transformation and
modernization is imperative, farming has to be lucrative enough to attract the younger
generation. It is worth recalling former President Pranab Mukherjee’s
observation: research in agricultural institutes should focus on minimising
production cost, enhancing profitability in the entire “field-to-plate” food
chain, and introducing greater automation to reduce drudgery. How soon
will it become the government’s top priority? ---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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