Innovate for better results

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Innovate for better results

Tuesday, 20 October 2020 | VK Bahuguna

The Govt must take proactive steps to reform Indian agriculture to help production cross 500 million MT in the next two to three years

These days farmers across the country are agitating against the three farm Acts passed by the Government recently. If we analyse the status of agriculture today, we find that the sector is in dire need of innovation, both at the policy and ground level. Unless the Government deals with the real issues facing the farming community, nothing substantial will be achieved by simply reforming the existing structure that governs the sale and marketing of farm produce. Government officials and many in the public space think that the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) is doing a great job in declaring the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for a range of items like millet, pulses, oilseeds and so on, other than wheat and rice. However, the fact is that only six per cent of the farmers and only `2.5 lakh crore out of the `40 lakh crore total output from agriculture are covered by the MSP.  From the point of view of food security, the MSP is an important intervention as it provides some financial security to the farmers and price stability to the consumers.

The main cause for concern is how to make farming profitable for the small and marginal growers who constitute 86 per cent of the farming community. They are neither able to invest in technology, better seeds and other inputs, nor in infrastructure. Most of them are at the mercy of the rain god who is now playing truant with them due to climate change, coupled with price instability and indebtedness. The rich farmers are able to manage somehow, but the poor get further indebted and trapped in bad loans.

Yet another problem is the reluctance of the younger generation to carry on subsistence farming. The Government must launch a climate adaptation site-specific programme for tackling the hydrology of the area to retain soil moisture. Increasing productivity is the only way we can double the farmers’ income. Take for example China. In 2010, it produced 500 million metric tonnes (MT) of grain from 143 million ha of net sown area. In India that year, this was only 240 million MT with the same sown area. Now with 140 million ha in 2020, we have inched closer to 300 million MT. Though the contribution of the farm sector in the GDP is around 17 per cent, it supports the livelihood of 58 per cent of the workforce of India. The Gross Value Added (GVA) by agriculture, forestry and fishing was estimated at `19.48 lakh crore in the current financial year (FY). The growth in GVA in agriculture and allied sectors stood at four per cent in the FY 2020-21. If the country wants to become a $5 trillion economy, we must lift the annual growth rate of agriculture by at least eight to 10 per cent in the next few years and then aim for more. This will require a concrete action plan.

As a first step, there should be planned networking to integrate land use with the adjoining forests through the creation of water bodies and implementation of watershed management schemes. This will help tackle climatic vagaries. The next approach is to opt for high value crop diversity for better production so that the return per unit of land used is enhanced. The farmers would require value addition and friendly market support. Though the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) can no longer control the farmers, they can still be used for better procurement through the MSP and can become competitive with reforms in their functioning, specially by creating more facilities for the farmers in the context of the changed circumstances.

The Government should promote consortiums of investors and farmers while the small and marginal farmers should form cooperatives for negotiating with the sponsors for undertaking contract farming. In this venture, the APMC’s Mandi Samitis could also chip in to provide infrastructure and help. These cooperatives can create infrastructure and inputs for increasing productivity and help small farmers improve soil conditions and mitigate water scarcity through water harvesting. This will sort out the two major constraints in increasing production. Yet another help farmers need is to mitigate weather-related risks and for this, crop insurance policies must be made farmer-friendly. What do we do about the deteriorating soil health due to the overuse of pesticides and fertilisers? We must push for sustainable farming and the Centre and States must provide assistance to organic farming and conservation agriculture. As per the Compound Annual Growth Rate, the organic food segment is likely to grow from `2,700 crore in 2015 to `75,000 crore in 2025. 

The Government must take proactive steps to reform Indian agriculture to help production cross 500 million MT in the next two to three years. Only then can the farmers’ income be doubled. The first thing to do is to open the door to agitating farmers. After all, it is they who have been feeding the nation.

(The writer is a former civil servant)

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