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Agricultural Production:NEED TO INTENSIFY & DIVERSIFY,Dr. Vinod Mehta,14 August 2007 Print E-mail

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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