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Degeneration of Indian agriculture add to India’s woes

The hue and cry over inflation and rise of prices in the national scenario, in the wake of momentous rise of prices of crude oil in the global spectrum, has been going on unabated and the political parities are vying with each other to garner popular support against this. Well, it is certainly true and painful that the mounting price level inflicts huge burden on the populace leaving no other way for them except waging protests. But the question remains is there any other way to escape from this annual ritual! To the pundits, the perfect implementation of right technology and policies can be instrumental to lift the country from this agonizing situation, but this in no way is in the purview of the governments.

On the other hand it is also true, performance of India in several sectors is indeed enviable. It happens to be second only to that of the United States in respect of cultivable land, while its economy is speeding up surpassing all forecasts and also its industrial innovation is legendary. So where lies the problem? It is nothing except the agriculture that is at present in the lowest position amongst last few decades, thanks to the deceptive and preposterous policies of the government. Bear in mind, India, which once used to have surplus productions in the realm of agriculture, nowadays is busy to turn to already stretched international markets. This certainly heightens the saga of international food crisis to a great extent.

It was not supposed to be this way. What has gone wrong then? The first and foremost perpetrator, as already stated, is the faulty agricultural policy of the government, or else the land of Green Revolution would not have faced such a grim crisis. It should be noted that the Green Revolution, in the late 60s, drove hunger from an India synonymous with famine and want to a great extent and witnessed surplus production, higher efficiency and also brighter prospects. On the contrary, currently, after a decade of neglect, the country is failing in all aspects to cope with the threat of increasing population and its demands.

There is indeed a crisis that even made Prime Minister to give a call for a Second Green Revolution “so that the specter of food shortages is banished from the horizon once again.” What does this indicate? Indian agriculture is at an all time low and with the passing of years this thrust is increasing steadily. In the words of M. S. Swaminathan, the celebrated plant geneticist who helped bring the Green Revolution to India, the Indian agriculture is in the midst of a double tragedy and to get rid of this there is the need of proficient and more professional mechanism. In his words, “Both in rice and wheat, India has a large untapped reservoir. It can make a major contribution to the world food crisis.”

In the whole picture the most hapless condition is of the Indian farmers, who after a highly significant toil become able to grow high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat, but he remains utterly neglected. This has been strengthened by the governmental disregard that has been going on from the late 1980s at a stretch along with the frustration of farmers due to the marginal profits. From that period the government has not expanded irrigation and access to loans for farmers, or to advance agricultural research. What is more, in the same period, the groundwater has been used up at alarming rates.

This condition can aggravate further with the possible change of temperature and rain patterns, to the esteemed analysis of Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. If this is not checked it has the competence to diminish India’s agricultural output by 30 percent by the 2080s.

There is also another reason. The chronicle of marginal profit or heavy losses, due to governmental inefficiency and high-ranking corruption, has discouraged a host of farmers and nowadays they are switching over to grow -value fruits and vegetables that prosperous Indians are craving.

But still all is not lost and there are chances. To the assessment of Adolfo Brizzi, Manager of the South Asia agriculture program at the World Bank in Washington, “India could be a big actor in supplying food to the rest of the world if the existing agricultural productivity gap could be closed. When it goes to the market to import, it typically puts pressure on international market prices, and every time India goes for export, it increases the supply and therefore mitigates the price levels.”

Nevertheless, for this the government has to come forward and take adequate measures for developing both of agriculture and infrastructure. Never forget that the lucrative offer of generating more profit is taking away a substantial portion of farmers to its fold and now they are more interested to cultivate baby corn sunflowers.

To conclude, the World Bank, meanwhile, favors high-value crops, because they allow farmers to maximize their income from small holdings. The extensive market may yet help India but for that there must be the proper governmental endorsement behind agriculture and also the massive development of infrastructure.

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