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Devinder Sharma - Food policy and Globalization:

Devinder Sharma, is a New Delhi-based food and trade policy analyst. Among his recent works include two books: "GATT to WTO: Seeds of Despair" and "In the Famine Trap". He also chairs the New Delhi-based Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security
"Much of the Indian agrarian crisis, is the result of unwanted and cost-intensive technologies, that have been forced down the throats of farmers. Scientists were knowingly and unknowingly, trying to promote the commercial interests, of the seed, tractor and the pesticides industry." - Devinder Sharma
Seed quality, is an important aspect of crop production. For ages, farmers have traditionally been selecting and maintaining good quality seed, since it is in their interest to do so. They knew and understood the importance of quality seed in production. However, with the advent of green revolution technology, based primarily on the high-yielding dwarf varieties of wheat and rice, the mainline thinking changed. Agricultural scientists, for reasons that remain unexplained, began to doubt, the ability of farmers to maintain seed quality themselves. Aided by the World Bank, the Ministry of Agriculture launched a National Seeds Project in 1967. Under the project, spread into three phases, seed processing plants were set up in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa. Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh were covered under phase III. All that the huge processing plants were supposed to do was to provide 'certified' seeds of food crops, mainly self-pollinating crops, to farmers.
In mid-1980s, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines concluded in a study which showed that there was hardly any difference in the crop yields from transplanted rice and from the crop sown by broadcasted seeds. Puzzled, I asked a distinguished rice breeder : "If this is true, than why in the first instance, were the farmers, asked to switch over to transplanting paddy ?" He thought for sometime, and then replied: "We were probably, helping the mechanical industry grow. Since rice, is the staple food in Asia, tractor sales could only grow, if there was a way, to move the machine in the rice fields. " No wonder, the sales of tractors, puddlers, reapers and other associated equipment soared in the rice growing areas.
Farmers spraying insecticides on crops have also been a usual feature of modern farming. Pesticides on rice (and others crops) were deemed necessary, since the fertiliser-responsive dwarf varieties, would attract horde of insects. To make the pesticides reach the target pest, farmers were advised, to use 'knap-sack sprayers' mounted on their backs. These sprayers, came with varying kinds of nozzles - different sizes, for different crops. Tractor driven sprayers, were also promoted for various crops.
Like thousands of British, who had assembled at the meadows in Edinburgh, two days before the G-8 Summit, officially began at the Gleneagles resort, in Scotland, this writer was amazed at the perseverance, determination and patience of the people who had lined up, for a peaceful march snaking its way through the city. Carrying placards, banners, and wearing mostly white, they waited for the police, to give the thumbs up signal to move. Such was the enthusiasm to make their voices heard, that they braved the slow movement of the march. It took us nearly three and a half hours, to traverse not more than 100 metres and yet, people were calm and cheerful. An estimated 250,000 people, took part in the peaceful march. For those who assembled in Edinburgh, the peaceful march, was the only democratic way, to express their anguish at the faulty global policies, exacerbating hunger and poverty. Unfortunately, the world leaders who swear in the name of democracy, are the first ones to turn a blind eye, to the traditions of democracy, once they are in power. This is exactly what happened at Gleneagles. Democracy, no longer means, hearing and protecting the voice of the masses. As the G-8 clearly demonstrates, democracy is all about protecting and strengthening the stock markets.

Reviving Indian Agriculture -

Strikingly similar, to the faulty, Vision 2020, that the former, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr Chandrababu Naidu, had unsuccessfully applied, and was therefore, routed out in the last state elections, Man Mohan Singh's approach, is also aimed at compounding, the already existing crisis in farming.
Despite the government and think tanks projections, the fact remains, majority of farmers are keen to abandon agriculture, and move into the urban centres looking for menial jobs. Agricultural lands have become unproductive. There is therefore a desperate need, to revitalise agriculture, restore the natural resource base, and provide for sustainable livelihoods. Any development alternative to ensure long-term food security, has to be linked to sustainable agriculture.
Let me therefore, draw the outline of the sustainable farming systems, that the country needs to focus on. This is the overall framework under which location-specific alterations and adaptations need to be tried. What is needed is a fresh approach that takes the ground realities into consideration before embarking upon any policy imperatives. I am trying to make an attempt, presenting a collection of five of the important rational decisions, which would certainly initiate the revival of Indian agriculture:
Sustainable farming : Indian agriculture faces an unprecedented crisis in sustainability. Foodgrain productivity in the food bowl, comprising Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, is on the decline. The green revolution areas are encountering serious bottlenecks to growth and productivity. The dryland areas (comprising nearly 70 per cent of the cultivable lands) continue to drown in misery and apathy. Excessive mining of soil nutrients and groundwater have already brought in soil sickness. Indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides has done serious harm to environment, human health and ecology.
There is therefore a need to immediately :

1. Draw a balance sheet of the collapse of Green Revolution. We need to know what went wrong with agriculture, so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes. A post mortem of Green Revolution is absolutely necessary.
2. Investments and increased outlays for agricultural research that is based on external chemical inputs like fertiliser and pesticides need to be phased out. Instead, financial allocation should be made for reviving low-input agriculture, which uses cheap and locally available technology and in turn improves production, reduces cost of production and protects environment.
3. Draw a map of the soil health of India. In future, all crop introductions should be based on soil health. If a crop (including cash crops) has the possibility of destroying the soil fertility and thereby accentuating the sustainability crisis, that cropping system should not be allowed.
4. Role of technology too needs to be ascertained. Pesticides were promoted blindly on rice, for instance. The International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines now says that pesticides on rice were a waste of time and effort in Asia. But meanwhile, pesticides usage has already taken a huge toll, and pushed farmers in a debt trap.
5. Agricultural research must reorient itself to learn from the existing sustainable farming models. The focus of genetically modified crops must immediately stop as it is risky and expensive for the farmer. This has been amply demonstrated in several parts of the world.
6. Water productivity and efficiency has to be the hallmark of agricultural research based on the local conditions.

Dryland farming :
Despite the former Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi’s emphasis on dryland farming, agricultural scientists as well as the policy makers, have failed the "resource poor" farmers. This is essentially because, the entire thrust of dryland research, was to bring in, an external model of Green Revolution, in which the dryland farmer, who manages to survive against all odds, would be made to fit in. No effort was made to improve, the existing technology base, under numerous location-technology specifications.
The increased emphasis on water harvesting notwithstanding, the reduced availability of water, is emerging as a major social and economic crisis and barrier. In addition, the cropping pattern, has to be evolved keeping in mind, the water availability. At present, more the water requirement for hybrid crop varieties, more is its cultivation in the water-scarce regions. This is scandalous - and unless the cropping pattern is rectified, no measures to protect and preserve, water resources, will be effective. There is no justification for Rajasthan, for instance, to grow sugarcane.

1. Investments in rainwater harvesting, need to be immediately shifted to the revival, of the traditional forms of water conservation – ponds and tanks.
2. Fodder cultivation, crop planning according to the water needs and availability and the emphasis on the local breed of cattle (and improving its productivity, rather than importing exotic breeds) need to be encouraged.
3. Dryland crops like coarse cereal, pulses and oilseeds require adequate policy measures that bring shine to these forgotten grains. Imports under bilateral trade agreements must protect the dryland crops.
4. Farmers in the rainfed areas need to be insured against drought. This can be ensured by making it mandatory for the foreign insurance companies to invest at least 40 per cent of their funds for farm insurance.
Pulses are a part of the average diet. Yet, pulse production has remained in the range of 14 million tonnes. Pulses are also a crop of the marginal lands, requiring less water and replenishing soil nutrients. Strange that the country imports pulses and export sugar, whose production needs to brought down. Why can’t we launch a nationwide programme to increase pulse production by re-launching a Technology Mission on Pulses and by providing farmers with small processing units to turn it into ‘daal’.

Farm Incomes :

Growing indebtedness in agriculture, is forcing an increasing numbers of farmers, to end their lives. This unsavoury phenomenon, is a manifestation of the declining farm incomes, and rising cost of production. No wonder, the average monthly income per family, stagnates at Rs 2,100, almost hovering around the poverty line.

1. Farm incomes must be raised. There is a need to immediately provide farmers with a ‘minimum take home’ income based on the land holding size. Farmers should therefore be included in the 6th pay commission.
2. Schemes that encourage banks to provide easy credit facilities to farmers need to be spelled out. Rural women end up paying 24 to 46 per cent percent by way of interest even in the much-hyped self-help groups. This is four times the rate of interest charged in the urban areas. Farm credit for small farmers should be made available for at 4 per cent interest. Cooperative credit must get priority over moneylenders.
3. Banks should be directed not to confiscate the movable and immovable property of defaulting farmers. Nor should they be put in prison.
4. On top of it, agriculture credit has to be extended to sustainable farming systems. So far the banks are only providing credit for technology-oriented farming systems, which is responsible for the destruction of the natural resource base. Farm credit needs to be extended to organic agriculture, for which an Organic Bank need to be created by NABARD (like the technology credit that goes through the private Robo Bank).

Multiple Cropping :

Emphasis on commodities approach, during the green revolution, has encouraged monocultures, loss of biodiversity, encouraged food trade in some commodities, distorted domestic markets, and disrupted the micro-nutrient availability, in soil, plant, animals and for humans. Thrust on farm commodities, has also pushed in trade activities, encouraged food miles, adding to greenhouse emissions, water mining, and destruction of farm incomes. The need, is to revert back, to the time-tested farming systems, that relied on mixed cropping, and its integration with farm animals, thereby meeting, the household and community nutrition needs, from the available farm holdings.

1. Contract farming can compound the agrarian crisis. Contract farming provides the companies to go in for still intensive farming systems thereby destroying the soil productivity.
2. It has been observed that contract farming on average is based on 20 per cent more application of chemical inputs and ten per cent more mining of ground water.
3. It is therefore important that all contract-farming approvals be based on farm sustainability parameters. Contract must specify that the company will return back the land to the farmer (which it takes on lease) in the same fertility conditions that existing at the time of the contract.
4. Corporate agriculture must be discouraged. All over the world, agribusiness companies have displaced farmers. This cannot be allowed in India, which supports 65-crore people on the farm.
5. Exotic as well as hybrid seeds should be discouraged. These have been primarily responsible for turning the lands sick. The thrust should be on traditional seeds.

Marketing : Providing an assured and remunerative market, for agricultural producers, cannot be left to the market forces. The food policy imperatives, of public distribution system, and announcing the procurement prices, before the crop season, have to be further strengthened. Agri-processing too needs to be strengthened, but not at the cost of the domestic producers. Food-processing sector, should be directed to use the abundant raw material available within, the country. The ‘rainbow’ revolution, that everyone talks about, is actually aimed, at helping the industry to exploit the farm sector. Already, a number of manufacturing units, for instance, have begun to source the agricultural raw material, including oranges, grapes, popcorn, peas etc, from America and Europe. Domestic production, in these crops is going waste. Future trading in farm commodities must stop. Export-oriented agriculture, is dependent upon highly intensive farming and should be discouraged. India can create a strong niche in international organic market, which is sustainable and economically viable.

Public Distribution System

needs to be strengthened and extended, to upcoming agricultural areas in Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, and the northeast. In addition, procurement needs to be extended, to coarse cereals, pulses and oilseeds, to provide farmers an incentive to produce more. The question of rising food subsidy bill, is misplaced, since it is far less, than the subsidy doled out, to a few hundred exporters. Strengthening PDS, should also be aimed in such a way that it becomes an effective instrument of tackling hunger, and hidden hunger.

Food Procurement Operations :

Food grains procurement, linked to the announcement of assured prices for agricultural commodities, are the two planks, of the " famine-avoidance " strategy that India, under Congress and Mrs Indira Gandhi, had adopted and should not be dismantled. Once the government withdraws from announcing, procurement prices for agricultural commodities, it is under no obligation, to purchase the surplus that flows into the mandis at harvet time.
Farmers would thus be left at the mercy, of the trade and the market forces, and if the past experience is any indication, it simply means, rendering the farming community vulnerable to exploitation, thereby threatening the country’s own food self-sufficiency, so assiduously built, over the past three decades.
The biggest crisis, afflicting the marketing of farm produce, is the inability to manage the agricultural surpluses. It is here, that the policy planning effort, has to be redirected with an effort to ensure that the surplus, does not become a national liability. Farmers have repeatedly, and in different parts of the country, been dumping tomatoes, potatoes and other fruits onto the streets to express their frustration, at the lack of adequate marketing infrastructure. The marketing approach, has to be different, for the rural and urban areas.

Important Links :

• World Food Policy - World Food Policy WebSite
  
• Indian Food Policy - Web Resources
  
• World Food Policy - Indian Food Policy
  

Publications :

• Trade Liberalization in Agriculture : Lessons from the First 10 Years of the World Trade Organization - a study commissioned by APRODEV, Brussels, and German NGO Forum of Environment and Development, Bonn, Germany
  Author : Devinder Sharma
  Core Research and Writing Team : Bhaskar Goswami, T.N. Prakash, Abigail Dymond, Raghav Narsalay, Devinder Sharma

List of Articles :

• List of Articles of Devinder Sharma
  Food policy, articles of Devinder Sharma

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