ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
New Delhi, 14 August 2007
Agricultural Production
NEED TO INTENSIFY & DIVERSIFY
By Dr. Vinod Mehta
The year 2003-04 witnessed a record agricultural
production, almost a 19 per cent increase in the foodgrain production and a
record oilseeds crop. This has not been sustained in the subsequent years,
which partly explains the current spurt in the prices of essential commodities
like wheat, rice, edible oil and pulses. The continuous fall in their production for
the last three years is indicative of the crises and inflationary prices.
Thanks to a good monsoon this year, the production of
grain and other agricultural products is likely to be all right and the
Government may import half of the wheat it had planned to import earlier to
beef up its grain stocks. The situation by and large remains stable.
However, it is important to ponder over the question of
agricultural production as we have almost reached self-sufficiency in grain
production. We are no more dependent on
any large-scale food imports to feed our population (China still imports some grains to
bridge the gap between its domestic production of foodgrain and the demand for it).
Once we are able to produce enough to meet the domestic requirement, we should
be able to think ahead and plan for the export of agricultural products say in
the next five to ten years.
This calls for action at two levels. First, we must reduce the gap in the
productivity of similar agricultural products among different States and second,
diversify our agricultural production.
Take productivity in Punjab
and Tamil Nadu. Areawise, Tamil Nadu is
three times the size of Punjab. However, Punjab harvests 21518.7 thousand tonnes of foodgrain on
an average (cereals plus pulses) while Tamil Nadu harvests around 8,567.5
thousand tonnes of foodgrain. Again, Punjab is
basically a wheat-eating area while Tamil Nadu is pre-dominantly a rice-eating State. Also, Punjab
produces both rice and wheat while Tamil Nadu produces only rice and little
wheat.
Similarly, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West
Bengal and Orissa are two to nine times bigger than Punjab.
However, the production of rice and wheat in these States is lower than in Punjab. A few years back, the rice and wheat production
in these states were as follows: Andhra Pradesh 9487 thousand tonnes and 6.7
thousand tones; Madhya Pradesh 5822 thousand tonnes and 6160 thousand tonnes; West Bengal 11444 thousand tonnes and 632 thousand
tonnes; and Orissa 6616 thousand tonnes and five thousand tones respectively.
In other words, there is a vast hidden
potential of grain production waiting to be tapped which can feed not
only the country’s population but also, say, the population of EEC.
The need of the hour is a clear-cut agricultural
policy both at the Central and state levels which can help the farmers to fully
exploit their hidden potentials. The proposed agricultural policy would cover
provision for assured irrigation water and supply of other critical inputs like
appropriate high-yielding varieties of seeds, fertilizer, organic manure,
credit, guidance in the use of new technology, market support in the form of
cold and other storage, processing, packaging and transport.
Roughly, if Tamil Nadu is three times the size of
Punjab, then Tamil Nadu should aim to produce two to three times the rice and
wheat produced by Punjab. If such indicators are worked out for each
state in relation to the highest producing state, it would indicate the hidden
potential of each state. These could then be tapped with appropriate
agricultural policies of each state.
Moreover, as there is a ready international market
for foodgrain, there is no reason why Indian farmers should not be allowed to
tap it. An example: Japan alone
imported US $ 31.57 million worth of foodstuffs in 1990. In countries like Austria,
Belgium, Denmark, France,
Germany, Portugal, Spain
etc., the import of agricultural products constitutes more than five per cent
of their total imports.
The signing of the WTO has also opened up the immense
possibilities for the diversification of crops and other agricultural
products. Diversification in
agriculture, as in industry, is said to be an insurance against risk. It also helps supplement the incomes of
farmers. Now-a-days farmers are advised
to go in for more than one crop per season so that loss on account of bad
weather or any other natural calamity may be compensated by the gains in the
other crop.
Similarly, farmers with byproducts of crops such as
straw or hay are suggested to go in for small dairy units. Apart from the
cereals, there is a vast international market for milk and milk products, fruit
and vegetables (both fresh and canned), cut flowers, meat and meat products.
India is the largest producer of
milk in the world today. But milk in India
predominantly comes from buffaloes as against the milk from cows in European
and other countries. The texture and
taste of the buffalo milk is different from that of the cow milk and hence the
products made out of buffalo's milk like cheese and butter also taste
different.
For instance, researches in cheese production have
revealed that cheese produced from buffalo's milk enjoys a premium in the European
market. True, exporting cheese to European countries would be like carrying
coals to Newcastle, yet it stands to reason that
India could develop a niche
market in Europe for its cheese made out of
buffalo's milk.
But this too requires serious research in the
development of different varieties of cheese made from buffalo's milk which
would be acceptable to foreign taste buds. India
has no tradition of making cheese except paneer (cottage cheese) which
is not a cheese as the term cheese denotes in Europe.
Thus, there is a lucrative international market for Indian cheese but one needs
to make efforts to establish it.
Similarly, the demand for milk products like
condensed milk, evaporated milk, milk powder etc., is quite high in the
international market. But as there is tough
competition from other countries in this sphere, we need to create a niche for products
made from buffalo milk.
Additionally, there are hardly any competitors for the
production and marketing of milk-based Indian sweets in the international
market. Again through serious research one can prolong the shelf-life of these milk-based
sweets for marketing in other countries.
Cut-flowers is another item which is in great demand in
Europe especially in winter when the
availability of flowers decreases. India is
already tapping this market in a big way but there is still a vast scope for
increasing our share of flower exports. With most parts of the country getting sunshine
almost the year round, no major effort is required. Only the flowers and their
quality in demand in these countries need to be identified and assured of quick
transportation to their respective destinations. These include gladioli,
different varieties and colours of roses and tulips.
The other area of diversification is to take up fruit
and vegetables cultivation for the export market. Presently, Latin American countries dominate
the international banana market, Australia and New Zealand the apple, pear and
kiwi fruit market, the South-East Asian countries the papaya, pineapple, water
melon and rambutan (a variety of litchi fruit) market. Though India is exporting fruit to a
number of countries, it has not been able to establish its identity in the
international market.
Each banana from Guatemala
carries the sticker "produce of Guatemala",
every piece of the New Zealand
apple and kiwi fruit carries the sticker "produce of New Zealand” and even kinnos (a citrus
fruit belonging to the orange family) of Pakistan
carry the sticker "produce of Pakistan". This diversification would be helpful to
establish the identity of our products in the international market. Ditto the
case for vegetables.
Clearly, diversification in the agricultural sector
can help raise the earnings of our farmers.
This is not a Herculean task but requires sustained efforts backed by an
appropriate agricultural policy to intensify and diversify agricultural
production. This would realize three objectives: feeding the domestic
population, increasing hard currency earnings and increasing the incomes of
farmers. ----- INFA
(Copyright India News and
Feature Alliance)
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