This refers to “Pulses import jumps 46% in 2009-10” (April 28). The annual production of pulses, the only source of protein for the poor, has stagnated around 14-15 million tonnes for more than a half century now. The farmer is a businessman. Officials in the Ministry of Agriculture and scientists should ask themselves as to why the average farmer has not taken to pulse production on a large scale despite its high prices. Is it because there has been no successful demonstration of any breakthrough in productivity, or is it that the net profit per acre compares unfavourably with that of other crops?
During a field study of small farmers in 1970, conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in select districts across the country, inter alia, I was in charge of Pali (Rajasthan) in the heart of a dry belt susceptible to monsoon failure. I asked a respondent as to how he dealt with the problem of drought. It was of interest to me in view of my background in studying farm management methods in the US for the MS degree in agricultural economics. The farmer told me that, after he assured himself of adequate cultivation of bajra for family consumption, he would sow horse gram in the remaining area, particularly near the boundaries. The dew in the morning desert air was adequate to provide moisture, assuring him of a satisfactory crop! He could sell it to a company exporting cattle feed to the US and earn a good supplemental income. Incidentally, the Division of Rural Surveys in the then Economic Department, where I worked for nearly 16 years, produced many valuable reports on field investigations that attracted wide attention. The Division was wound up in the 1980s due to administrative problems. It is time for RBI to revive it as its eyes and ears in rural areas. Or, Nabard can set it up.
The government should provide for the procurement of pulses at remunerative prices and encourage research in raising productivity. If it results in some reduction in the output of coarse grains like jowar, bajra and maize, it will not affect food security as many poor families have shifted consumption to rice and wheat, thanks to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
A Seshan, Mumbai
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