By Prabhudatta Mishra
Siraj Hussain spent 18 years of his profession handling agriculture, meals and allied sectors in Centre as effectively as Uttar Pradesh, out of which 10 years as joint secretary, more secretary and secretary in the Union government. He was also chairman and managing director of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) throughout 2010-12. Currently, he is a senior going to fellow at the Delhi-based Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (Icrier). Hussain spoke to FE’s Prabhudatta Mishra on quite a few problems in Indian agriculture — from surplus meals management to the influence of Covid-19 situations in the rural places and from developing option crops of paddy to obtain self-sufficiency in edible oils. Edited excerpts:
1. As reports of more quantity of positive situations coming from rural India throughout the second wave of Covid, how is its influence seen in the next kharif sowing?
The rural places in quite a few states are certainly reeling beneath the onslaught of the epidemic. The poor news is that there is a large gap in vaccination in between urban and rural places, except in Gujarat, Kerala and Rajasthan. There is ample availability of agricultural labour due to migration. If the Covid-19 scenario begins enhancing and the element of worry is checked by a decrease quantity of situations and larger vaccination, the kharif sowing operations are not probably to have an effect on adversely. Monsoon will hit north-west only in early July, by then the wave is probably to subside.
2. After the 2009 drought, India’s foodgrains output has not seen a lot influence anytime there is an all round deficiency in rainfall as such much less rainfall was restricted to a handful of places/regions. With a continuous surplus of rice and wheat production each and every year, what is the way out in meals policy management?
This is a complicated query and the answer can be discovered only was prepare a 10-year road map in consultation with states. The incentive for developing paddy has to come down and the very same for alternate crops, for which India is import-dependent, has to raise.
3. IMD has predicted a regular monsoon, but some places of eastern India may perhaps face beneath regular rainfall. Since paddy is the primary crop in this area and irrigation is also decrease compared to other developing states, is there any threat to paddy crop?
In the previous, area-sensible predictions of monsoon have not turned out to be pretty precise. The regular rainfall in the eastern states is pretty higher. Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim acquire about 2,000 mm of rain although Bihar and Jharkhand get about 1,000 mm. So, even if IMD’s prediction comes correct, a slightly decrease rainfall will not have a lot influence on kharif crops in the eastern area.
4. There have been talks on a shift away from paddy and other water-guzzling crops, especially in Punjab and Haryana for years. Why has not it taken off?
According or maize in location of paddy but maize rates collapsed in 2020-21 and the farmers earned a lot much less than they would have, from paddy. So, procurement by the government is a large incentive to continue with wheat and rice.
5. Where has India’s policy gone incorrect for it to slip from a self-enough nation in edible oils in the 1980s to a Rs 75,000-crore/year importer now? Will the distribution of the absolutely free seeds be useful in the nation becoming self-enough in oilseeds? to information of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), wheat, paddy and sugarcane provide the highest return to farmers. In the case of sugarcane, even the private sector is mandated to spend price tag fixed by the government. In the case of wheat and paddy, there is robust procurement in most states (Bihar is an outlier). Haryana offered an incentive of Rs 7,000 per acre for developing cotton
The National Mission on Oilseeds and Pulses is not pretty effectively-funded. At the slightest hit of inflation, the governments (irrespective of parties) have been decreasing import duty on palm oil, which also occurs to be the least expensive oil, offered in ample quantity. The larger-yielding seeds along with a handsome incentive to farmers to develop oilseeds in each kharif and rabi crops may perhaps provide outcomes in 5-7 years. In February 2018, a working group of Niti Aayog submitted demand and provide projections to 2033. In 2032-23, the demand for oilseeds is projected to be about one hundred million tonne (MT) although domestic provide will be only about 60 MT.
The government calibrates the import duty periodically so that minimum assistance rates (MSP) of oilseeds are protected. A superior formula is to retain the duty at a level so that the expense of imported oil is not decrease than the expense of domestic oil at MSP.