Call for big changes in agriculture policies

The Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Friday has advocated a paradigm shift in policies for agriculture. It has argued for expansion of irrigation coverage through efficient micro-irrigation technology, cultivation of less water-intensive crops, and a revamp of research and extension services.

The survey claimed that Indian agriculture is a victim of past successes and needs a paradigm shift in policies and priorities for a structural makeover. It added that two consecutive drought years also affected agriculture. “There is a deep segmentation of agricultural markets in India and farm incomes will get a boost if this is remedied. Irrigation cover and adoption of appropriate technologies for efficient utilisation of water may boost productivity,” the survey stated.

It said that only 34 per cent of the total cropped area in India is irrigated, besides there being regional disparity in irrigated farming. “There is a need for increasing the coverage of irrigated area across the country to increase productivity in agriculture,” it noted. It also stated that meeting the high and growing demand for pulses will require large increases in production on irrigated land. It cautioned that this will not occur if policies are focused on cereals and sugarcane. Calling Indian agriculture “cereal-centric”, it stated that the country needs to grow more pulses as part of a “rainbow revolution” to match changing diets.

The survey stressed that Indian farmers will need a favourable minimum support price (MSP) regime for growing less water-intensive crops like pulses and oilseeds. It added that the reformed MSP regime has to incorporate the social benefits of growing pulses and must be backed by a strong procurement system.

“The social returns of pulse production are higher than the private returns as pulses not only use less water and fertilisers but also fix atmospheric nitrogen,” the survey said, while adding that farmers could be assured of a floor price for their crops (when prices crash) through direct bank transfer of a portion of the difference between market price and MSP.

While advocating agricultural research and use of genetically modified (GM) technology, the survey observed that a host of studies have demonstrated significant net benefits of GM crops with countries like Brazil and now China opening up to new GM technologies and aggressively building their own research capacity.