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Interviews | Prof. Abhijit Sen, economist and former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, interviewed by The Economic Times
Prof. Abhijit Sen, economist and former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, interviewed by The Economic Times

Prof. Abhijit Sen, economist and former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, interviewed by The Economic Times

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published Published on Nov 19, 2016   modified Modified on Nov 19, 2016
-The Economic Times

In a chat with ET Now, Abhijit Sen, Professor, JNU, says this is a whole sector in which there are very large cash demands for production at one or two points in time and this happens to be one.

Edited excerpts

* The government has hiked MSPs for rabi crop. How do you see the impact of higher MSPs for output and demand for rabi playing out?

The increases are normal expect pulses are somewhat higher but pulse prices have been high although in the case of kharif pulses they actually fell shortly after the crop size was known. The MSP increase that they have announced is okay except that again the real problem this year for the rabi crop is not so much the price incentives but whether or not there will be any hiccups on inputs and the ability of the farmers to actually put in the inputs given that it is coming in the midst of the demonetisation.

* What effect would demonetisation have on the agriculture sector, on the agricultural GDP over the next one to two quarters and even long-term implications over the next one year?

Demonetisation is going to be more important than the price signal given by the MSP. The simple fact that farmers in say Punjab have got the money for the kharif crop but I do not know how much of that money they will be able to take out of the bank because there are limits to the amount they can withdraw. There are loans which are taken for the next crop and the cooperative sector is still battling away with legalities regarding whether they can convert the loan into denomination of whatever the farmer requires. So there is a whole problem on the cash side at the moment just between two harvests whether the farmer has got the cash and the next crop where he has to actually plant the seeds. This is an area for a lot of hassle. Sowing was going very well up to now but it suddenly got jittered and the window for that rabi sowing is not very large.

* That is true but that is perhaps the reason why the government also wants to step in and incentive farmers to actually continue with the sowing process. They have permitted farmers to withdraw about Rs 25,000 per week against crop loans credit to the account. How beneficial do you think this measure would be this measure to kind of meet the gap in the interim like you said to not really miss out on the opportunity of sowing and then, of course, essentially cash in on a bumper harvest on higher prices?

No fine. I mean Rs 25,000 is exactly what? It is from your own account. It is exactly what you require. You are allowed to take out Rs 25,000 from your account. So you are not doing any great thing for the farmer. You are just giving him the same thing except that so far cooperative banks were under greater pressure. How large the effect will be, I have no idea. But this is something farmers are facing in the middle of the peak season, between one harvest and the sowing of the next crop.

* So you are more circumspect about how the sowing season would pan out for rabi crops? Are you then also indicating that the kind of problem that we saw in pulses inflation this season around could repeat itself and perhaps come back with vengeances because things will not pan out as expected to really capitalise on the sowing season?

I honestly do not know. In this season, the main pulse is gram. Gram prices were ruling at about Rs 100 to Rs 120 a quintal. The MSP is only Rs 40. So have not given a huge amount of this thing but 40 is something which could have been an incentive because other prices had fallen, the kharif prices had fallen. I do not know whether the prices are going to be the main thing we should be looking for at this point. It is how the sowing proceeds and how fertiliser use proceeds. It the input side that we should be looking at.

* Just to understand from you, what do you think can be done for the farmers to alleviate some of the stress or the hassles with demonetisation concern?

Basically what has to be done is you got to recognise that this is a whole sector in which there are very large cash demands for production at one or two points in time. It does not happen over the year and this happens to be the time at which demonetisation has come. Farmers cannot be treated as any other individual that you can withdraw Rs 4000 every week. Others are meeting their consumption with that while farmers are meeting consumption and production costs with it. Some farmers who are very small, for them that is a fairly large amount but the larger farmers I do not know what they are going do. I mean they might be able to squeeze it out through getting the input supplier to give him credit, not have to pay cash at that moment, there will be jugaad. So things will not be very badly affected, but there will be some hit.

* The right word is jugaad -- even through the transition phase we in India always have a way to figure out things and so to that extent do you believe that there might be some interim challenges? The season would not be compromised because of that? Are you more worried about inflation because at a time when rates are going down and now the expectation is that they will go down more than expected earlier on maybe between 50 bps to almost one percentage point?

I am not worried about inflation, at this point inflation is no one's concern, I think. It is really the income of the farmers and the extent of production.

* And on that also do you expect that they will be able to kind of, like you said, you know, find a jugaad to the problem or there will be some shortfalls by the end of the season?

I think they probably will be able to find a jugaad but to expect them to find a jugaad and not bother about their problems would I think be extremely irresponsible of whoever is making policy.

* Estimate on how much the agri output, especially the rabi crop output would decline by if you were to give us some sort of comparisons in your own, if you have done any kind of ballpark assessment as a percentage?

I have not done any ball-- you see were expecting a record rabi this year given the weather, given the moisture and everything, that is we were expecting something like a 4-5% increase in the rabi production. I do not think you are going to have anything near that. It would probably be about 2-3%.

* And how much would that peg pack agri output as a percentage of GDP for the next year?

No, no, see rabi output is only about 20% of the total agricultural GDP. Agricultural GDP is only about 155 so we are talking about pretty small amount, I mean, about the total rabi output is about 3%, there is a 2% fall in that, it is miniscule. So for the economy as a whole do not bother too much.
 
 
The Economic Times, 17 November, 2016, please click here to access
 
 
Image Courtesy: The Economic Times

The Economic Times, 17 November, 2016, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/expert-view/demonetisation-to-affect-rabi-crop-sowing-abhijit-sen-jnu/articleshow/55473686.cms


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