Opinion The company of companies

Yes,we need some more grain,say 15 per cent more in the rest of the decade,produced with higher technology and less land. We need everything else a lot more,for the energy and satisfaction of all our people,particularly as the poor get their place in the sun. If we don’t do it,they will sell the grain and buy what they want — but we will destroy the capability of widespread growth,the only real food security for a billion-plus on the move.

The FM has,on behalf of Krishi Bhavan,announced a series of very welcome initiatives. The important thing is to get them going in the framework he has announced. The “self-sufficiency in production of pulses within the next three years”,which he has mandated,is also the framework for an expert group I am chairing in the agriculture ministry. His point about upgrading 60,000 villages in rain-fed regions is well-taken,too.

It is very important that the public-private mode that he has set for his agro-initiatives is taken seriously. In dry agro-climatic regions,we don’t have the public sector infrastructure that could cover the last mile in any effort to make available the best seeds and practices — particularly pesticides,limited irrigation and nutrients that could achieve yields close to 12 quintals per hectare,roughly double of what we do at present.

We also do not have a structure that can provide support to the farmer when prices start crashing at harvest time,as they did this year as well. In a successful PPP model in the field,a corporate house covered the last mile in supplying technology and buying the produce at a decent price — and they have,in fact,started a branded distribution system for pulses. But for 60,000 villages we need a hundred flowers to bloom and many such groups.

Fortunately,a number of leading corporate groups are investing in agriculture and have the organisational structure ready. We need the wisdom and the initiative to get things going.

And we need the resources they will bring. Rs 300 crore will not be enough by itself to cover all costs,but can meet the public sector contribution. Remember countries like Australia and Canada are spending more than $300 million to build capability to export pulses to India. We will trade with them; the true concept of self-sufficiency should be to import and export also,with net trade being close to zero for a normal year. The real issue is to get governmental procedures working,so that an honest bureaucrat can get PPPs going without the media and others calling it a scam. This would need transparency and rule-based systems. Fortunately,with 60,000 villages,there is enough space for everybody. It may not be possible to do this for the coming kharif — but should be field practice for the rabi.

The PPP model is needed for another reason. If we are serious we can achieve self-sufficiency in pulses. We can in fact do better; there is really no reason for us not to aim at globally competitive yields,say above 20 quintals a hectare in five years. But for that we need to plan from this year for producing high-yield hybrid seeds for each agro-climatic region. Our scientists are good,but this would take time. They need to work with the best to achieve these goals — private-sector companies.

If in the early 1990s we could work with the private sector for hybrid paddy in the PPP mould,there is no reason for not doing so in pulses or oil palm,fodder or protein supplements,as the FM has mandated. Rs 300 crore each may not just be the lucky number for the FM but also for the kisan,for it is enough to give comfort to the PPPs and maintain public policy leadership there.

Let this budget be the turning point. In a recent meeting,Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that biotechnology is not just seeds. He is right — and he must be on board for this new vision from the word go. Too much is at stake for it to be otherwise. Everybody cannot work in silos.

The writer,a former Union minister,is chairman,Institute of Rural Management,Anand,express@expressindia.com