Opinion Going to seed

How nice — finally,Krishi Bhavan has decided to push hybrid paddy in the eastern region,as a Chinese best practice. When it was discovered by Indian scientists way back in 1993,it was the first successful case of research leading to the development of hybrid paddy as a public-private partnership. But its application and adoption was neither impressive nor fast. The Hybrid Paddy Project was developed in 1989 as a special initiative of then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and guided by E.S. Siddiqui. Seeds were developed in a number of centres,and meant to be replicated in others. A national network was set up. By the early ’90s,around seven varieties were released in the south and east. The northern centres did not take off. Its research achievements were APHR I and II,with a yield of seven to seven and a half tonnes for Andhra and Rayalaseema,MGR I with a yield of six tonnes for Kuruvai in Tamil Nadu,and the KRH- IV in Karnataka,which gave a yield of 82 quintals of paddy. The CNHR-III in Bengal for boro paddy was close,at 81. India and China were the only two countries which developed it with a smaller contribution in the Philippines through International Rice Research Institute(IRRI). In India,the large hybrid rice seed producers in the private sector included Mahyco,SPIC,and Lever and in the public sector,Krishi Vigyan Kendras,seed corporations and universities. Once the seeds were developed,the production was also in a PPP mould. Again Mahyco,Pioneer,SPIC,ITC,Indo-American,Nagarjuna,Zuari,EID Parry and others were involved.

The experiment failed in the ’90s. The reasons are unclear,particularly since the original high yield varieties in the ’60s and ’70s were such a grand success. The governments in the ’90s were cool,if not hostile to the achievements in the ’80s. The project lost its champions. As late as 2002,after the Mount Abu meeting of Congress chief ministers,Captain Amarinder Singh was to brief the press that he and a senior economic policy-maker of the party were opposed to me when I advocated raising grain production. Since my whole presentation was on raising grain yield,including spreading hybrids and releasing land for diversification,I did not know what they were saying but decided to keep uncharacteristically quiet since politicians should best be ignored on technical matters. Later,grain prices were to prove me right. Therefore,this time before food security gets off the ground,the fact that the agriculture and finance ministers were in Bengal when it was kicked off,is significant. Such initiatives need support,otherwise they tend to wilt under the first problem that inevitably emerges. China roared ahead with more than five million hectares,but in India after an initial thrust it just tapered out.

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Apart from cussedness at high levels and lack of support,the reasons of failure need to be analysed and responded to. Financing the higher cost and taking care of the front-up initial costs may be one possibility. China was subsidising them in a big way. Initially the idea was that water would be saved. Later it turned out that per unit of output of paddy,the water requirement was lower,but the stress requirements were severe. If water did not come on that day,the yield fell. In the south and the east,with poorly managed canals and groundwater getting scarce,this was probably a reason. Again,if the yield was not there,the farmer had nobody to turn to. The company would say it was his fault,and we had no regulatory mechanism. The state,which in its heyday really looked after the duplication and supply of seeds,just walked away.

The IPR questions are more complex. The germplasm we now have is much richer and more promising. But the seeds used are,as in cotton,mostly pirated. These do four quintals in eastern UP as I discovered in my wanderings from Lucknow to Barabanki but seven tonnes is better than four,which in turn is better than the present paddy yield average of three. My take on this complex issue is that we should encourage the big boys,around 30,to network with the hundreds of small players who saturate the illegal supplies. These are agricultural science people,who know enough to pirate. They should be brought under the official net. Otherwise the poor farmer,having bought an expensive seed which is illegal has nowhere to go when,in one in many cases,it fails.

Two years ago a hybrid paddy initiative was announced in the kharif conference. This time it must succeed. With a food security structure getting into place,there is too much at stake.

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The writer,a former Union minister,is chairman,Institute of Rural Management,Anand

express@expressindia.com