Crop diversification and Punjab

THE Punjab Chief Minister has asked for Rs 5,000 crore in the 12th Plan to encourage crop diversification, which practically means looking at alternatives to paddy. Till the other day he was demanding a similar amount as relief for paddy growers hit by a deficient monsoon in July.

No one objects to wheat, a traditional crop, the state, and also the country, cannot do without. It is paddy that needs to be discouraged. The damage the water-guzzler paddy has done to the state’s groundwater resources is well known. If crops other than paddy are to be encouraged, political leaders will have to first stop pleading for a higher minimum support price, a bonus or relief for paddy.

While it is understandable for the Chief Minister of a cash-strapped state to make demands on the Central funds, it would be interesting to know what the state itself has done to either discourage paddy or promote alternative crops. The state government formed committees of experts in 1985 and 2002 but their reports have been dumped. The state can only create an enabling environment but cannot tell farmers what crops to grow. Pulses, oilseeds, sunflower and maize have been tried, but these crops do not give returns matching paddy. And there is no assured marketing. Horticulture, organic and contract farming may suit only large farmers.

The vast majority of small farmers, especially those close to towns and cities, can try vegetables, given the price rise. But there are hurdles. Due to lack of quick, affordable transportation and enough cold storages, 40 per cent of fruits and vegetables go waste, reducing returns for the grower and raising the cost for the consumer. Retail FDI can boost agriculture-based businesses apart from small and medium units as supermarkets are required to access 30 per cent of their needs from them. By shutting Punjab’s doors to foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, the Akali Dal has denied farmers and industrialists an opportunity to link themselves to organised marketing and grow or produce what markets demand