Agriculture minister Sudhakar Singh: ‘Bihar staring at worst drought in five decades… Govt may declare it soon’

It was a 2013 matter. Like several mills of others, my two mills were also given the contract (by the government) of processing paddy into rice. It was fault on the part of the (then) state government to give the second lot of paddy to mills without collecting rice of the first lot. We were declared defaulter and a case was lodged in 2013. The matter is now pending in the Supreme Court. I would go by what the court directs… But I wonder about the timing of the Opposition against me. Why did Sushil Modi not talk about it earlier? Why is he taking up a sub-judice matter? Second, I was in BJP when the case was lodged against me. The same Sushil Modi had come to meet me in jail. There is no question of my resigning just because the Opposition is demanding so.

As the agriculture minister now, what is your immediate challenge?

With 40 per cent deficient rains and paddy sowing being hit, Bihar is staring at perhaps the worst-ever drought in the last five decades. Chief Minsiter Nitish Kumar and I have been moving in the field to make the assessment on the ground and are finding the situation very alarming. The state government may formally announce drought soon.

What are your exigency plans to tackle this situation?

First, we have ensured availability of electricity for farmers for eight hours to 16 hours daily so that they can use pumping sets to irrigate their fields for paddy sowing. We know the water table has gone down. But we are asking farmers to use whatever means of irrigation they can use. We have been also giving diesel and fertiliser subsidy. But I doubt if claims of 80 per cent sowing is correct. Despite all of our best efforts, we cannot avert drought. I do not remember when was the last time Bihar faced such a drought.

How do you see the overall agriculture situation in Bihar?

It is sad that despite three agricultural roadmaps, things have not improved in the state over the years. We have identified that the main problem starts from the seed level. There has often been a delay in the supply of fertiliser from the Centre. The department needs a complete overhaul – from seed quality and procurement to timely supply of fertiliser. If there is a delay in crop sowing, it often results in less productivity.

The Nitish Kumar government had been critical of the three central farm laws, which were eventually repealed. What are your plans to ensure that farmers get good price of their produce?

We have to go back to the old mandi system. We are soon reviving 60-odd government mandis so that farmers get a local mandi and get a fair price of their yields as well. We have a big maize belt but we have only a few mandis. The central farm laws, now withdrawn, were not in the interest of farmers. Once we put in place the government mandis, things would be back on track. So, seed, fertiliser and procurement are the three aspects we have been working on.

What about the delay in procurement of paddy by Primary Agriculture Cooperative Credit Society (PACCS) and the shortfall in its procurement?

That is the whole problem. Single procurement agency system started by the NDA government in Bihar in its second tenure (2010-2015) is irrational and wrong because farmers are often forced to sell their yields at throwaway price in the open market because of the PACCS often delaying the procurement and not meeting purchase targets. We have again decided to introduce the multi-agency procurement system so that maximum grains of farmers could be purchased well in time.

Are you open to inviting private players as well to procure grains?

Why not? Eventually, we aim at having a system that benefits the farmers. If there are good private agencies, they can work together with us following our norms. With mandis and multi-agency system, we hope to get our primary sector, agriculture, back on track.