Opinion The Rabi Revival

But what is the policy frame to help the rabi do better? Of course the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana is there and those plans were made end of last year and are being implemented. A lot of the problems of agriculture are outside the sector. Imports are great and prices as Montek and Pawar saheb tell us are already falling. What is in store for the kisan when the tractors start rolling in come April? Would somebody tell us? What is the price the wheat,the channa,the mustard and toria will fetch for the men who drive in the trailers behind their tractors? What about the fertiliser? I was happy at the announcements of nutrient based prices,a recommendation I made four years ago in a fertiliser pricing committee.. I knew that urea prices would go up because world prices are rising again and the Government sat on my report for three years and more and only last year announced a policy for expansion and later for new plants. Some expansion is in,more will come but that’s little and the new plants will take time. So prices would go up,since world prices are much higher,but the policy-makers pulled a fast one and said the urea would still be controlled but nutrient based prices would be there for P and K,which only means the P and K would get a limited subsidy and nitrogen would get an unlimited one. The poor kisan must be more confused than me by now but when he finds out and also that prices of potash and phosphatics are rising,he will put in a lot of urea and forget about balances,costs and yields and pray for the best,although he knows perfectly well that God doesn’t rain soil nutrients. We will of course not forget to tell him to go for sustainable agriculture in the second green revolution.

Some hopes were emerging in better seeds,but Sarkar has decided at the highest level that seeds are much too important to be left to poor scientists and their years of test results and decisions by independent regulators set up by law. These issues are so important that they will only be decided politically. As he buys fake unapproved seeds some replicated by crooks,the kisan who doesn’t have an option if he wants to make money,will have the consolation of knowing that very legitimately the all powerful Minister knows the best and has a very busy schedule of meetings with NGOs who have declared that higher production of brinjals is not needed anyway. If they are wrong lord forbid,the all powerful economic advisers are always there and will tell us,other things remaining the same to import more in the next crop season. Of course they will do so with zero duties and some more subsidies.

Rahul Gandhi reportedly very sensibly told some journalists in Tamil Nadu that the interlinking of rivers business was not practical and there are only good and bad irrigation projects. That was brave because the South is always fed the pap of Himalayan rivers,with lines drawn on a map shown as projects. But we have spent thousands of crores and more so recently,and canal area is not going up. Rahul Gandhi’s father would insist in each crop season,to know the areas in which water was coming. Rahul will also need to ask of the good projects which will perform.