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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

‘Long-term trends in agriculture deeply disturbing'
-The Hindu
 
Noted Jaipur-based economist V. S. Vyas has expressed concern over “progressive diminution” of cultivated holdings which he says has led to stagnation in the yield of major crops and rendered agricultural income insufficient for farmers to make ends meet. A sharp decline was also being witnessed in per capita food production, he said.

Delivering the Tarlok Singh Memorial Lecture at the University of Hyderabad over the weekend, Professor Vyas said good harvests of the past two years should not make policy-makers complacent, when the long-term trends in agriculture were “deeply disturbing”. There was also deceleration in the growth of once dynamic ancillary sectors such as horticulture, dairying and fishing, he added.

The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council member devoted his talk to the theme of challenges for transforming Indian agriculture. The lecture was arranged under the auspices of the Indian Association of Social Science Institutions (IASSI), which also organised its annual conference in the city.

He felt the strategy pursued for farm productivity during the period characterised as Green Revolution was no longer relevant because the agrarian structure was now far more dominated by marginal and small farmers. “Land, which is the production base of agriculture, is depleting and deteriorating. Demand for [different] commodities has changed and there is a technological fatigue for the dry area crops.”

Observing that agriculture at present was much closely integrated with the rest of the economy, he said the current agricultural scenario characterised by impoverished peasantry and stagnant farming had to be changed into a dynamic agriculture benefiting large sections, especially small producers.

He suggested expansion of small holdings by legalising leasing of land, completing the process of redistribution of available land by strict enforcement of land ceiling legislation and facilitating purchase of land by small farmers with adequate credit and with assistance from the State agencies as some of the measures to deal with the crisis situation.

Scientific farming

The Rajasthan State Planning Board Deputy Chairman added that land productivity could be increased by scientific agriculture as had happened in case of crops like cotton, maize and soybeans. Besides encouraging and supporting high value crops, keeping in mind high capital requirements and sophisticated marketing, could also serve the purpose.

“Small farm-based agriculture will grow to the extent the institutions of research, extension, marketing and credit are attuned to the requirement and capabilities of the small holdings,” he said, while pointing that these institutions were at present largely bypassing these sections because of higher transaction costs, perception of high risks and low absorption capacity of small farms. Many of these hurdles could be crossed if aggregation of various functions of small holdings takes place. The institutions supporting agriculture would become more effective if they introduce suitable organisational changes and use technology to reduce transaction costs, “as [is] being attempted in the credit sector.”

Simultaneously, there should be systematic efforts to encourage rural industrialisation to absorb surplus labour from agriculture. Such industrialisation would be demand-driven, with larger farmers playing the key entrepreneurial role supported by technical and research institutions, he said, while referring to the spurt in rural industries in the first phase of reforms in China.

“For all this to happen, policy stance will have to be changed. Impact of macro policies on agriculture, which is the largest industry in the country, should be taken into consideration and anomalies in [the policies on] credit, marketing and trade removed.”

Prof. Vyas also called for a significance enhancement in allocation of resources for rural infrastructure and capacity building and said the next green revolution could be ushered in by the small farmers with “appropriate supportive action”. “That will certainly be the just and sustainable transformation,” he said.

The lecture series commemorates IASSI founder and first president Tarlok Singh. Among others, IASSI president S. R. Hashim, Indian Council of Social Science Research Chairman Sukhdeo Thorat and National Statistical Commission Chairman R. Radha Krishnan were present on the occasion.


* Sharp decline being witnessed in per capita food production, says noted economist V.S. Vyas

* “Deceleration in growth of once dynamic ancillary sectors”