Had we spent the same amount of time we spend in selecting a cricket coach for agriculture, we would have been

on top of the world!'

June 7, 2007

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his United Progress Alliance government is anxious to revive Indian
agriculture, which has been in the doldrums for many years now. Can the UPA's new farm policy revive Indian agriculture? Will the plan to convert farm land into Special Economic Zones in many states spell doom for Indian farmers? Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier spoke to Dr M S Swaminathan, one of the architects of the Green Revolution of the 1960s that transformed India from a nation of droughts and famines to a country with a surplus of food grain. In 2000, the National Agricultural Policy set a target of 4% growth for agriculture but could only achieve 2% growth. What went wrong? I was chairman of the steering committee for agriculture when we set up the target of 4% growth rate. I had written that if you want to achieve 4% growth rate in agriculture, you should have 8% growth in animal husbandry and fisheries and 8% in horticulture. To some extent, we have achieved 8% growth in animal husbandry. In poultry, we have made spectacular advances. Horticulture is not bad. But the agricultural portion, the crop portion -- cereals, millets, oil seeds -- they have all fallen behind. There has been th stagnation in wheat and rice production largely because the strategy recommended in the 10 Plan has not been followed. What were the recommended strategies? We have repeatedly emphasised in the Plan document, unless there is a symphony approach in five major areas, the production will not go up. The first is to give greater attention to soil healthcare. We had recommended that all farmers should be given a soil heath card. This has not been done. The government only gives subsidies for nitrogenous fertilisers. With the result, farmers do not apply balanced fertilisers. And there was more of Nitrogen and not P ( Phosphorus) and K (Potassium). Also, practically there were no micro nutrients. At the National Commission on Farmers, we again re-emphasised the importance of strengthening soil testing laboratories, mobile soil testing vans, issue of soil health card to every farmer but nothing has been done. Some states like Gujarat have done good work, so the agricultural growth rate in Gujarat is over 9%. That shows it can be achieved. The second thing we emphasised in the 10 Plan was the harvesting of rain water, storing it and using it very efficiently. The third is, credit and insurance reforms, credit linked to insurance, which also has not happened. Hardly 4% of 15 million farmers have taken crop insurance.
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The fourth is technology and inputs. Seeds must be available in an affordable manner. Implements hold the key for improving rain-fed farming. Finally, a remunerative market. Without a remunerative market, why should a farmer grow more? Rain-fed agriculture has had a negative growth in the last 14 years. Why? That is because it also has not received the attention it needs. We have proposed agri-business centres and clinics th which were set up during the 10 Plan but are non-functional so far. Only now, in the 11 Plan, they have set up a rain-fed area authority. It has taken several years to even set up the authority. God only knows what the authority will do! We have demonstrated from our Foundation (the M S Swaminathan Foundation) in the pulses villages in Ramanathapuram district and Pudukkottai district that if all the villagers harvest water and share it equitably, it can work wonders.
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here is no magic to agriculture'

June 7, 2007

Deterioration of soil quality and salinity of soil has become a major problem even in a state like Punjab. Do
you feel it is because water has not been given the importance it needs and there is no water policy as such? Water has been given importance in words, but not in action. All the problems are diagnosed and re-diagnosed but no action is forthcoming. The sequence is awareness, analysis and action. Where is the gap? In our country, awareness is there but no analysis and action. There is no professionalism on the part of the government. Governments that have taken interest like the Gujarat government, have done well. There is no magic to agriculture. A plant is the same like us. The reason for no action is because agricultural administration is not professional. Civil servants come and go, including the director of agriculture. Nowhere in the world are such positions occupied by generalists. We spend more time in selecting a cricket coach. Do we spend any time in selecting the director of the pulses mission? If we had spent the same amount of time we spend in selecting a cricket coach for agriculture, we would have been on top of the world! You always speak of the necessity of a second Green Revolution. How can we achieve better growth at least, if not a revolution?

The media should ask the question to the government. People also should ask the question. Words are not substitutes for action. Was it because the then government was pro-active, making it possible for you to achieve a Green Revolution in the 1960s? Yes, there was a Green Revolution symphony then. Science, technology, public policy, input services, farmers' enthusiasm -- all of them came together in a symphony. (Then Union agriculture minister) C Subramaniam was a man of action. So, when we proposed the 5 year Plan in 1963, fortunately everything fell in place. Actually in 1963 when I proposed it first, there was no minister who would take interest. Fortunately, CS came in 1964. He approved it immediately. Everything was done very fast. Today, paralysis of analysis is taking place.

70 crore people are in agriculture'

June 7, 2007

In the 1950s, 50% of the country's GDP was from agriculture. Today, it has come down to less than 20%. Is
this a good sign according to you? That is because today, other economies are growing. Yes, contribution of agriculture has come down to less than 20% for the first time. That is also alright because we have diversified our economy. That is not the problem. The problem is, the number of people dependant on agriculture has not gone down. It has increased. There are 70 crore (700 million) people who are in agriculture who receive 20% of the GDP. Some economists say as the economy grows, the share of agriculture in the economy goes down. Suppose the contribution of agriculture is one lakh crores, out of 55 lakh crores or 20 lakh crores, then, you will have a higher percentage. If the contribution is one lakh crores out of 100,000 lakh crores, it becomes very small. Economists also say that like in the developed countries, the share of agriculture should go down below 4%. Do you agree? I don't agree. The main point in my view is, there are two needs. One is to have more productivity of small farms. Over 85% of farms are very small; 1 acre, 2 acres. Secondly, you must have more people in the non-farm sector which means agro-processing, agro-business, etc. So, on one hand, you need small farm management revolution, and on the other, you require an agri-business revolution; one on the production side and another on the post harvest side. Unless this happens, marginalisation of farmers will continue. Some economists say farmers should move from farming to manufacturing... Economists say many such things. If you want 50 crore small farmers to quit farming, where are the jobs in the nonfarm sector?

You are against converting farm land as Special Economic Zones. You speak about Special Agricultural Zones, SAZ. Those in favour of SEZ say they are creating jobs. Do you agree with that argument? Before they create the zones, let them publish a livelihood impact statement. The land of so many farmers has been taken away; they have not been properly rehabilitated. These people say they are given Rs 5 lakh per acre or Rs 2 lakhs per acre, but what does the small farmer do? Part of the money will be lost in drinking, part of it will go to settling their debts, and in a year, they become landless labour. If this country has 50 crores of landless labour, then even God cannot save it. Image: In this photograph taken April 18, 2006 at Yavatmal outside Nagpur, Pranali, Seema, Ruchali and Kajol, the four daughters of 35-year-old cotton farmer Neelkhant Haste mourn his death. Haste committed suicide by consuming pesticide. Desperate and debt-ridden with loan sharks demanding up to 120 percent annual interest, the failed harvests and tumbling prices have driven businesses to the wall and farmers to suicide. Officials confirm that the deaths are increasing at a faster rate than ever before in a country already with the second highest suicide rate in the region, according to the World Health Organisation.

If this country has 50 crores of landless labour, then even God cannot save it'
June 7, 2007

Is that the reason why you are against Special Economic Zones?
I am not against Special Economic Zones. I am against taking away of prime farm land in the name of Special Economic Zones. What is the Special Economic Zone I am reading about in the newspapers every day? Most of it is going to be fancy housing. The other day a man was saying he will use 50 acres for IT and 300 acres for housing. So, it is really taking away prime land for real estate. It is a land grab movement. Will you elaborate on your vision on Special Agricultural Zones? Special Agricultural Zone means you take an area which has untapped production reservoir, develop it into a highly productive system with an end to end, what I call conservation, cultivation and consumption and commerce as one link. For example, we are developing Kuttanad (in Kerala) like this. There is this Vembanad Kayal and the patta sekharams (farm land). We are suggesting that each patta sekharam of 500 to 600 acres should have certain common facilities like a combine harvester, like a tractor and so on because in Kerala, labour is not available for farming.

Vembanad Kayal will be a special agricultural zone because it has three kinds of potential; one for crop husbandry, the other for fisheries and the third for water tourism. The first thing about a Special Agricultural Zone is, good ecology is good business and bad ecology is bad business. I am talking about tourists polluting the Kayal. Like the Indira Gandhi Canal, we are now developing a scheme to convert the Vembanad Kayal into a special agricultural zone. Is this going to be the first Special Agricultural Zone in India? Yes. We will submit our report next month. When will the real development start? That is where the entire problem comes. The (Kerala) government has to do that. These are all exciting opportunities but who will really implement them is what we have to see. You head the task force on agriculture in Rajasthan. When you spoke about Special Agricultural Zones, how did the government there respond to it? (Rajasthan Chief Minister) Vasundhara Raje is very receptive. I think she went on a padayatra along the canal. All agricultural schemes should be brought together in the special agricultural zone. Make them work, I told her. The problem is, political interest is there but the bureaucrats are not that enthusiastic because they are there for only a short period. Image: A farmer waits for rain on his drought-hit paddy field in Morigoan, about 50 kms from Guwahati, last August. Flood-prone Assam state suffered an unusual dry spell last year that hit farmers who depend on seasonal rains to sow rice and other crops.