Ajay Vir Jakhar
Famend agriculture economist Dr SS Johl introduced two studies on the necessity for crop diversification in Punjab in 1986 and 2002. After over three a long time, overflowing cereal granaries and enormous funds deficits have lastly compelled a critical coverage rethink on the stage of the Union Authorities on the open-ended public procurement system restricted to paddy and wheat. These two staple crops have been favoured for the Inexperienced Revolution as a result of with assured irrigation the yields are much less liable to erratic climate, will be cheaply saved for lengthy intervals of time and are thus extra appropriate for meals safety functions. Punjab offered the best circumstances for rising these crops and was chosen because the Inexperienced Revolution state. When India gained Independence, Punjab had a diversified agriculture panorama. However, underneath the Union Authorities’s directives, insurance policies and incentives to make sure India’s meals safety throughout its most troublesome a long time, it turned to specialised agriculture.
Anticipating a financially constrained Punjab to share the price of crop diversification can be unrealistic. The method turns into much more sophisticated when one additionally seeks to safe dignified livelihoods for these depending on agriculture whereas transitioning to regenerative alternate options. Fixing the maze of the state’s coverage of free energy for tubewells would require political will, which is unfortunately missing. Such challenges make the duty of diversification too daunting for the administration to even ponder.
Unarguably, a essential want for crop diversification is to deal with the depleting groundwater. Two-crop monoculture is obliterating biodiversity, however most stay blind to it as an existential disaster. There’s additionally a direct correlation between areas of the two-crop monoculture and farmer suicides. The person-days of labor created by the paddy-wheat cycle are presumably 130 days a yr or much less. Spending days with out work in a state of unemployed ‘worklessness’ results in despair that’s rampant in such communities. Creating range of rural occupation is simply as vital as creating off-farm jobs to enhance rural livelihoods. Discount in paddy cultivation can also be important to resolve the vexed subject of crop burning.
Folks wallow in satisfaction as India habitually celebrates its ‘self-sufficiency’ in meals amidst continued large malnutrition. The misperception crops up solely as a result of nearly all of the individuals can’t afford nutritious meals and demand stays subdued. Consumption patterns change as economies develop, with individuals capable of afford and demand extra nutritious and various meals. Whilst demand of diversified meals will increase, local weather change will adversely influence meals manufacturing targets, resulting in erratic manufacturing regularly. Throughout India, the groundwater desk is depleting to a degree the place even entry to consuming water has grow to be an issue in tens of 1000’s of villages. In mild of those challenges, Punjab, uniquely endowed with pure assets, is the important thing to serving to attain India’s vitamin safety.
The query could be requested: if crop diversification is so vital, why has we failed so miserably for many years? The reply is easy sufficient: no matter the noise, the Union Authorities has all the time been cautious of diversifying cultivation in Punjab. India’s priorities change with rising worldwide commodity costs and occasional droughts throughout the land. Assured procurement of paddy and wheat at good costs from village market yards, coupled with immediate fee, has created the scourge. It’s unattainable to exchange or replicate it for different cropping techniques. The general public procurement by the Central procurement companies infuses about Rs 60,000 crore yearly into financially strained Punjab. The state shouldn’t be able to offset the influx and income accruing to the state, and has due to this fact too opted to keep up the established order. Globally, most commerce the world over takes place with neighbouring nations as within the Americas or within the European Union. Within the case of Punjab, landlocked removed from seaports and neighbouring hostile Pakistan, commerce is strangulated, leading to lack of alternatives for agricultural export and creation of off-farm employment. Within the course of, Punjab has misplaced export markets of Afghanistan and Pakistan, its conventional buying and selling companions. It is usually denied street entry to Central Asian markets which are nearer to Punjab than Mumbai or Bengaluru.
Financially strapped Punjab Agricultural College, too, failed to fulfill expectations and ‘agriculture analysis and extension’ are in determined want of a reboot. An agriculturally wealthy state like Punjab has mockingly grow to be a web importer of vegetables and fruit, rising which would supply vitamin and on-farm work. Crops to exchange paddy equivalent to maize, groundnut, moong, cotton, bajra, arhar and soybean simply don’t yield comparative income. Revenue shouldn’t be the one purpose for farmers to decide on to develop a specific crop. Comparative weather-induced manufacturing dangers in different crops makes paddy a favoured crop. The late Dr GS Kalkat had noticed that small and marginal farmers gained’t undertake new crops until they’re assured of promoting of their produce. Diversifying crop manufacturing would require a myriad of actions, together with creating regulated house for personal merchants, serving to farmer producer organisations grow to be aggregators, futures and choices, warehouse receipts, threat insurance coverage and dismantling dealer monopolies in APMC market yards. However governance stays the largest problem in debt-ridden Punjab’s wrestle to regain its glory. A lot of what’s required for profitable diversification additionally lies outdoors the state boundaries. For instance, Punjab dairy trade’s demand for maize is met from Bihar, the place it sells for half the worth of the MSP. This subdues farmgate costs in Punjab and hinders crop diversification. The meals processing trade is important for crop diversification, however insurance policies of the Union Authorities haven’t delivered. The regularity of arbitrary import-export restrictions hurts extra.
The best way ahead
Punjab secured India’s first 50 years of meals safety; the time is ripe for the Union Authorities to fund crop diversification in Punjab for securing the following 50 years of India’s vitamin safety. What ought to work is for the Centre to allocate Rs 5,000 crore per yr for a six-year interval. This must be over and above the present procurement payouts to Punjab farmers. Regretfully, the institution in Punjab can’t be trusted to make use of the cash for the supposed functions, making certain a simply transformation; nor can the Union Authorities be anticipated to deal with the ache of diversification in perpetuity. To make the transition everlasting, we’ve to transcend simply bridging the profitability hole between paddy and the diversification crops. Due to this fact, a Niti Aayog-headed ‘Transition Fee’ must be constituted and be accountable for assessing the states’ plans and allocate assets conditionally.
Anticipating a financially constrained Punjab to share the price of crop diversification can be unrealistic. The method turns into much more sophisticated when one additionally seeks to safe dignified livelihoods for these depending on agriculture whereas transitioning to regenerative alternate options. Fixing the maze of the state’s coverage of free energy for tubewells would require political will, which is unfortunately missing. Each politicians and leaders of farmer unions root for populist, short-term financial advantages for farmers by consciously sacrificing livelihoods of future generations. Such challenges make the duty of diversification too daunting for the administration to even ponder. Consequently, even when one thing appears logical and even when assets can be found, it doesn’t imply that transformation can be completed. Let’s not lose hope, let’s pray.
5 strategies for Funds-2022
1 Search evaluation of presidency programmes by organisations of beneficiaries to allow varied departments to make sure supply of goals and optimum utilisation of budgetary allocations.
2 Statutory imposition of import duties on crops/ meals the place touchdown value is beneath MSP (the place declared) or beneath remunerative costs (the place no MSP) in order that these don’t enter Indian markets beneath a threshold value.
3 Double funding for agricultural analysis establishments and farm extension companies.
4 Finance a consortium of farmer organisations for growing a metric for measuring what issues: true value of meals; and fee for farm ecosystem companies.
5 Establishing an autonomous physique underneath the aegis of Ministry of Agriculture, mandated to offer real-time market intelligence and a nationally constant database of meals techniques to all stakeholders, together with the states.
The creator is ex-Chairman, Punjab State Farmers’ & Farm Employees’ Fee
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