An agrarian prescription

Having gone through several ups and downs in the past six decades, Indian agriculture seems to have reverted to square one at least in one respect. It has revalidated the observation made by Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru in his "tryst with destiny" speech on the country's independence in 1947 that "everything else can wait but not agriculture". The title of this book, therefore, sounds appropriate in today's context.

With the plateauing of the gains of the green revolution, agriculture appears to have gone into a shell. The prescription for a possible way out has been spelt out quite lucidly in this compilation edited by noted agriculture scholar M S Swaminathan. The whole tone and tenor of the book is to make agriculture move with time, in tandem with changing global and domestic realities.

The book is essentially a collection of 39 policy papers issued from time to time by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) on current issues in the broad agricultural sector. The objectives of these exercises, spread over the past few years, were to promote synergy between scientific thinking and policy planning, something that has been woefully missing in the Indian system of governance.

It is for this reason that Prof. Swaminathan has expressed the hope right in the beginning of the book that the suggestions made in it would be noticed and used for policy and investment decisions in agriculture. Many of these recommendations present a roadmap for rescuing the fate of farmers and farming from the present agrarian crisis.

Indeed, the book makes for refreshing reading as it reflects a good deal of out-of-the-box thinking. An example of this is the argument, made quite forcefully, that growth in agriculture should be measured in terms of increase in the real income of farm families rather than in terms of quantitative production. This, incidentally, is also part of the campaign currently being spearheaded by Prof. Swaminathan for shifting the focus from agriculture to farmer. Moreover, this has been the refrain of also the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers, which was headed by him.

Interestingly, the book traces the genesis of the farm sector's, as also the farmers', ills to several factors, including the technology fatigue and break in the linkages between the laboratories and the fields because of the weakened extension system. Besides, good-quality seeds are not available in adequate quantity at affordable prices. Spurious pesticides and biofertilisers are being freely sold in the market in the absence of effective quality control systems. Moreover, the inputs supply regime is in disarray, particularly in dry farming areas. Micronutrient deficiencies have impaired soil health and soil fertility.

The real value of this work lies, indeed, not so much in the wide range of the issues that it has dealt with but in the fact that the issues chosen for commentary are highly relevant to modern agriculture and merit immediate attention. As such, the papers included in this collection touch upon the subjects currently being hotly debated, such as land acquisition for industrial and other non-agricultural uses; growing linkages between farms and industries; climate change and its repercussions. Going further, the papers offer novel solutions for coping with them as well.

On the clashes over land acquisition for creating special economic zones (SEZs) and other purposes, for instance, the book argues that such issues should be dealt with scientifically and not just politically or emotionally. Farming is the principal source of work and income security for rural people, which should not be jeopardised or undermined for short-term profits.

But at the same time, the book pleads for greater agriculture-industry linkages since marketing products is more remunerative than raw commodities. Farmer-processor linkages are needed also to add value in accordance with demands of consumers, the book contends.

On climate change, it acknowledges the fact that poor nations like India would suffer the most as they lack the coping capacity to withstand the adverse consequences of it. It has suggested the preparation of computer simulation models of different weather probabilities and contingency plans to meet the challenges posed by them. Going further, it has mooted anticipatory research to protect coastal communities in particular, through bio-shields and genetic-shields.

The Chinese model of "Town and Village Enterprises" (TVEs) has been recommended for India so that surplus rural labour could be absorbed in industrial activities near labourers' homes. This would supplement farm household incomes and reduce migration from rural to urban areas.

Agriculture Cannot Wait
New Horizons in Indian Agriculture

M S Swaminathan (ed)
Academic Foundation
Price: Rs 995; Pages: 550