If one were to draw up a wish list of the most important tasks to be achieved or “pivotals” in agriculture, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has touched on five issues as such pivots.
(1) National Cooperation Policy
(2) Digitalization of land registers
(3) Release of climate-tolerant, high-yielding varieties (HYV) seeds
(4) Promotion of vegetable clusters, including post-harvest management infrastructure
(5) “Atmanirbharta” in oilseeds including soybean
I fear that, as with every passing year, some of these policies will get forgotten in detail and implementation, but she (and perhaps the new federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development) should be given due credit for pushing to bring attention to these policies.
It is not new that the biggest woe of Indian agriculture is land fragmentation. So why have successive governments (including the US) conveniently not addressed the issue expeditiously? Clearly, it is neither the farmers nor the consumers who benefit from low productivity and inconsistent quality.
Around the world, especially in democracies where forced consolidation of land is not possible, the best approach is to promote cooperatives.
While the current laws on cooperatives pose a challenge, it is incomprehensible why the Federal and State governments cannot work together in the interest of millions of farmers (and consumers) by enacting the necessary amendments to the law, rather than leaving farmers at the mercy of the argument. It is now up to the legislators to make cooperatives a reality.
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Also read: Kharif corn, soybean, sugarcane sowing exceeds normal range
I should have done it sooner
Rural/farm land records often lack veracity of ownership. Informal settlements, serial subdivision, illiteracy, ignorance and the complicity of village level administration mean that such documents are not available. This prevents formal lending to these unfortunate owners and allows informal lenders to make money.
Again, this is nothing new or insurmountable, but it shouldn’t have taken 70 years to tackle. It is very welcome to see the Foreign Secretary take up this issue, speed up digitisation and propose splitting the cheques. As we can see in some progressive quarters, there are NGOs and organisations that can help the Government fast-track this work.
The decline in arable land and productivity, exacerbated by climate change, is a major challenge. Food production is under strain globally. If genetically modified organisms cannot be accepted, the only option is to develop and commercialize high-yielding, climate-resilient varieties.
I am not sure why as many as 109 high-yielding varieties of 32 crops have been safely stored away for so many years, when problems of soil erosion and scarcity have plagued us for so long. It takes at least one or two seasons for new varieties to hit the market and produce results. It is time to give a major impetus to research and development by the private sector, overseen by agricultural universities. Restrictions on the development and release of new varieties should not be the sole responsibility of agricultural universities.
Kudos again to the Finance Minister (and perhaps the Federal Agriculture Minister for driving this) for conceptualising vegetable “clusters” with a focus on the downstream chain of storage and distribution.
We are twoand Although it is the world’s largest vegetable producer, producing over 200 million tonnes per year, it does not feature in the list of best producers because a huge amount (about 40%) goes unvalue and only a small part is exported.
Clusters would ensure better or consistent quality and facilitate cluster-level storage, primary processing, and distribution through efficiencies of scale. Hopefully, this concept will be translated by a “new perspective” Ministry of Agriculture into practical, workable regulations that encourage private sector participation while allowing the government to police abuses, without forbidding (fair) market practices.
Atmanirbhar Edible Oil
It is difficult to rationalise the import bill of around Rs 1.5 lakh crore for around 16-17 million tonnes of edible oil. The majority (3.8 million tonnes) is soya oil, but 35-40 per cent capacity of over 130 soya crushing plants is lying unused due to scarce soya seeds.
A technical mission on oilseeds has been in existence since 1986 but there is still a shortage. Why are farmers hesitant to cultivate these seeds when the demand is growing?
Issues of price parity between DOC and the US, Argentina and Brazil may create incentives for the feed industry to consume Indian DOC.There may be a significant increase in mustard and sunflower seed and oil production even if MSP for farmers (and VGF for producers) are re-adjusted for a limited period until the market takes over.
India urgently needs to find alternatives to imported palm oil and should not take the easy way out by reducing import duty from 17.5% to 12.5%. The world is facing a global food shortage and a new era of protectionism. Atmanirbharta for edible oils must be a cherished and time-bound goal. We cannot be forced to support GMOs to survive.
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Related article: Indian spices not banned in Singapore, Hong Kong: Minister
It is well understood that this government may have political compulsion, but now is the right time for it to call on all states and political parties to work together on agriculture-related issues that directly affect the future of farmers, rather than opposing just for the sake of opposing.
Indian voters are conscientious enough to vote for constructive criticism rather than political views. In short, for India to achieve its 2047 goal of “Viksit Bharat”, agriculture must account for at least 25% of GDP by 2030 and 30% by 2040. It can be achieved if we all work together, but not otherwise.
(The authors are Chairman and MD & CEO, respectively, of Prowess Advisors)
