The just released figures on GDP growth gives the lie, as one might be incorrectly tempted to conclude, to the widely held view that all is unwell on the farm front. Then farm sector’s contribution to the overall 9.3% GDP is 9.3%. What does the just released figures signal? By the admission of the finance minister himself, the growth in the farm sector has been contributed by horticulture and non-cereal crops, like spices, jute etc. Is this reason enough to rejoice? Look at what is happening on the grain front and the general developmental trajectory.

The latest information by the National Sample Survey Organisation’s (NSSO) has found that 43.42 million of the estimated 89.35 million rural farmer households, that is 48.6 per cent, are indebted. The cutoff limit for a farmer household to be classified as indebted was Rs 300 at the time of the survey. Now, compare this with the farmer-baron of Punjab, who drives around in Mercedez. The most important finding of the survey was that UP, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh had more than 50% of the indebted rural farm households, with Andhra Pradesh at the peak at 82%. Contrary to the popular belief that Kerala being a socially advanced state, it was a very great revelation that the state had a very high percentage, as much as 64.4%, of rural indebted households. In fact both Kerala and Punjab, with 64.5% rural indebtedness, are on par.

This simply shows that contrary to what the agricultural messiahs and the mandarins in New Delhi would have us believe, the impact of the so-called green revolution has been very marginal on the poor farmer. Punjab is the cradle of the so-called green revolution, while Kerala is home to world’s most prized spices like black pepper and cardamom and Andhra is the granary of the south.

Where does this leave us now? The survey casts a very deep shadow on the impact of the so-called green revolution and the general farm policies of the country in eradicating poverty from the fields of the poor farmers of India. In fact, if one critically examines the farm economy and the impact of green revolution in India on rural income, it would become clear that it is only the land-rich and capital-rich farmers who have made the most of the high input technology of the green revolution and not the capital-poor and land-poor marginal farmers of India. Free electricity is being provided in Andhra. When poor farmers have no wells to draw water from, nor enough cash to sink one, of what use is free power? Free power is being cornered by the farmer barons, who have extensive land holdings of hundreds of acres.

Currently, the per capita food availability hovers around 350 grams per day, which is only 70% of the minimum requirement of 500 grams, stipulated by the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad. Per capita availability of pulses per day, the most important protein supplement for the vast Indian poor, is a measly 28 grams! Between 1992/93 and 1999/2000 (the first generation reform period) food production rose 13.41%, which is about 1.7% per annum, which has now plummeted to about 1.3%. The NSSO data has shown that the indebted rural farm household spends more than 50 per cent of the measly Rs 300 on food alone.

Against this grim background, what should one make of Sharad Pawar’s decision to hike the issue price of wheat from the public distribution system (PDS) outlets and slash the quantity allotted to the poor? That most of the PDS food is funnelled by the unscrupulous to the black market is an open secret. But, what the agriculture and food minister is planning to do is throw the baby with the bath water, in the name of saving the nation from food subsidy.

Maharashtra, from where the agriculture minister hails, is the home for horticulture and Baramati is home to horticulture barons. Even by the admission of the prime minister himself, during the just concluded ‘B.P.Pal Centenary’ celebrations, the original man behind the so-called green revolution, there simply is no big idea seen on the farm front. If Punjab, the granary of India and the

nucleus of the green revolution, reeling under soil fatigue, has decided to go in for contract farming, something is fundamentally wrong with our

agricultural strategy.

The writer is an international agriculture scientist nair_kpp@yahoo.com