Time for a Radical Re-think on Agriculture?

This post has taken help from the articles mentioned at the bottom and has been written inspired by some posts by Anshuman Narain on Facebook.

Food in India has been associated with divinity for a long time. It is said to be the sacrificial offering to the fire in the human body. Krishna says in the Gita that he is this fire. He also talks about how food ultimately comes because of our deeds. There are concepts like annapoorNaa, Saakambharee and annalakshmee. Hence in this land, as an extension the producer of this food (the farmer) deserves a place of honour.

Of late and over many years, we have heard tales of farmer distress, crops getting destroyed due to various reasons, suicides etc. We see this happening year on year. Every time this happens there is a huge hue and cry by whoever is in the opposition, the media highlight and furiously debate it, the government promises relief measures and then everything is forgotten till the next calamity. Rightly or wrongly farmers are one of the largest voting groups and hence wield immense power. Many of our political leaders were farmers (they still claim to be when one asks them for their profession, the latest example being the Karnataka CM). I am not an expert but some of our problems are well known:

1. Fragmented land-holdings
2. Poor irrigation and hence over dependance on rains
3. Low penetration of crop insurance (the other side of the coin being insurance frauds)
4. Poor efficiency and hidden unemployment (GDP contribution ratio to employment ratio is low vis-a-vis, say, service).
5. Skewed markets favouring middle men.
6. Controversial procuring mechanisms (think of the debates over MSP or minimum support price)
7. Inefficient and insufficient storage for procured items.
8. Poor transportation measures increasing time gap from farm to plate.

When we are under the Britishers we had them to blame. Who do we blame today? On one hand we have hailed dams as the temples of modern India, on the other hand we have the Narmada Bachao Andolan and opposition to the Tehri Dam. Further I understand that in today's India, where there is huge discussion going on about tax evasion and black money, agricultural income is not taxed at all.

We have seen a huge movement against corruption which was apolitical. It is a different matter that this led to the formation of another political party. We have a PM who seems to be in a hurry to change the country. Can he not ask for a radical overhaul of our agricultural system?

1. Completely decentralize agriculture - the central government is too far, empower the gram panchayats.
2. Keep a stringent central monitoring mechanism in place - the local bodies should not monitor their own activities.
3. Comprehensively EDUCATE people, especially farmers on the benefits of pooling resources, ensure formation and efficient working of farmer cooperatives - better bargaining power. Also we have to ensure that farmers are actually educated and not left illiterates.
4. Invite public and private companies to invest in roads and storage infrastructure (both normal for dry crops and cold chain-related for fruits and vegetables).
5. Link NREGA and farming comprehensively. NREGA should be comprehensively linked with developmental and productive activities.
6. FINISH the discussion on inter-linking rivers and either dump it or start it. Lot of rivers, especially the non-Himalayan rivers see significant drop in their flows during the dry season. Interlinking can probably help to even out the flow and reduce dependance on dams - we can focus on irrigation canals only instead. These canals can be used in two other ways - to cover them with solar panels like it has been done in Gujarat, and also as transportation channels revolutionizing rural transport.
7. Apart from helping improve irrigation we should also focus on drip irrigation. Imagine the increase in productivity and production if we can convert areas like the Kutch, Thar Desert and interiors of Odisha, Telangana etc. for agriculture!
8. Increase efficiency and reduce over employment - for this we need extensive coverage of high yield varieties, access to fertilizers and pesticides, good farming practices.
9. At the same time we should protect our bio-diversity and increase use of natural and organic methods. We have an abundance of cattle wealth. Their dung and urine can be useful as manure. Further varieties which have been traditionally used may be more resistant to heat, pests etc. Traditional knowledge should be tapped to the fullest extent possible.
10. Inform people about crop insurance. However this alone will not help as many may not be able to afford it or may become ineligible for insurance payouts once they default on their loans. This is the reason I keep coming to consolidation and cooperatives. 
11. There should be clarity on MSP. Increasing MSP can help farmers, however this leads to inflation which will impact the normal middle class anyway. The increased inflation may come back to hurt farmers again.
12. We also need to realize that we are a country where only a small percentage of the population today pays income tax. At least the larger farmers who own significant holdings should be brought under taxation. This is not related to agricultural reform. However I wanted to bring this up while I am on this topic.
13. Get comprehensive changes to the PDS (public distribution system). There is no point in procuring huge quantities and then squandering them. The correct recipients should be properly targeted. Aadhaar can play a huge role here.
14. Rationalize our APMC system, reduce the role of middle men and ensure benefits go directly to farmers. The efficiency-related savings can be passed on to consumers.
15. To do all of this there is a comprehensive centre-state debate required. People have to sit together and hammer things out.

We have people like APJ Abdul Kalam, MS Swaminathan and Narendra Modi who have vision. It is high time we think big, think radical and change our agriculture for good.

References:

• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/why-crop-insurance-schemes-fail-poor-farmers-when-they-are-needed-the-most/articleshow/47052185.cms
• http://www.livemint.com/Politics/bYMbXRsL3eYQw2Bp4iMaXI/Narendra-Modi-promises-higher-support-price-to-farmers.html
• http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-quiet-reforms-by-narendra-modi-double-edged-sword-2040061
• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/view-new-land-bill-will-win-not-lose-votes-for-narendra-modi/articleshow/47057364.cms