Need to cut incentives for paddy cultivation: Siraj Hussain, former agriculture secretary

A very good components is to maintain the responsibility at a stage in order that the price of imported oil will not be decrease than the price of home oil at MSP.

By Prabhudatta Mishra 

Siraj Hussain spent 18 years of his profession dealing with agriculture, meals and allied sectors in Centre in addition to Uttar Pradesh, out of which 10 years as joint secretary, extra secretary and secretary within the Union authorities. He was additionally chairman and managing director of the Meals Company of India (FCI) throughout 2010-12. At the moment, he’s a senior visiting fellow on the Delhi-based Indian Council for Analysis on Worldwide Financial Relations (Icrier). Hussain spoke to FE’s Prabhudatta Mishra on a number of points in Indian agriculture — from surplus meals administration to the affect of Covid-19 instances within the rural areas and from rising various crops of paddy to realize self-sufficiency in edible oils. Edited excerpts:

1. As stories of extra variety of optimistic instances coming from rural India through the second wave of Covid, how is its affect seen within the subsequent kharif sowing?
The agricultural areas in a number of states are certainly reeling below the onslaught of the epidemic. The dangerous information is that there’s a big hole in vaccination between city and rural areas, besides in Gujarat, Kerala and Rajasthan. There may be ample availability of agricultural labour as a consequence of migration. If the Covid-19 state of affairs begins enhancing and the factor of worry is checked by a decrease variety of instances and better vaccination, the kharif sowing operations should not more likely to have an effect on adversely. Monsoon will hit north-west solely in early July, by then the wave is more likely to subside.

2. After the 2009 drought, India’s foodgrains output has not seen a lot affect each time there’s an total deficiency in rainfall as such much less rainfall was restricted to a couple areas/areas. With a steady surplus of rice and wheat manufacturing yearly, what’s the method out in meals coverage administration?
It is a advanced query and the reply could be discovered solely was put together a 10-year street map in session with states. The inducement for rising paddy has to come back down and the identical for alternate crops, for which India is import-dependent, has to extend.

3. IMD has predicted a standard monsoon, however some areas of japanese India could face beneath regular rainfall. Since paddy is the principle crop on this area and irrigation can also be decrease in comparison with different rising states, is there any menace to paddy crop?
Previously, region-wise predictions of monsoon haven’t turned out to be very correct. The conventional rainfall within the japanese states could be very excessive. Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim obtain about 2,000 mm of rain whereas Bihar and Jharkhand get about 1,000 mm. So, even when IMD’s prediction comes true, a barely decrease rainfall is not going to have a lot affect on kharif crops within the japanese area.

4. There have been talks on a shift away from paddy and different water-guzzling crops, significantly in Punjab and Haryana for years. Why has not it taken off?
In accordance or maize instead of paddy however maize costs collapsed in 2020-21 and the farmers earned a lot lower than they’d have, from paddy. So, procurement by the federal government is a large incentive to proceed with wheat and rice.

5. The place has India’s coverage gone unsuitable for it to slide from a self-sufficient nation in edible oils within the Eighties to a Rs 75,000-crore/yr importer now? Will the distribution of the free seeds be useful within the nation changing into self-sufficient in oilseeds? to information of the Fee for Agricultural Prices and Costs (CACP), wheat, paddy and sugarcane present the very best return to farmers. Within the case of sugarcane, even the personal sector is remitted to pay worth fastened by the federal government. Within the case of wheat and paddy, there’s sturdy procurement in most states (Bihar is an outlier). Haryana offered an incentive of Rs 7,000 per acre for rising cotton
The Nationwide Mission on Oilseeds and Pulses will not be very well-funded. On the slightest hit of inflation, the governments (regardless of events) have been lowering import responsibility on palm oil, which additionally occurs to be the most affordable oil, out there in ample amount. The upper-yielding seeds together with a good-looking incentive to farmers to develop oilseeds in each kharif and rabi crops could ship leads to 5-7 years. In February 2018, a working group of Niti Aayog submitted demand and provide projections to 2033. In 2032-23, the demand for oilseeds is projected to be about 100 million tonne (MT) whereas home provide will probably be solely about 60 MT.

The federal government calibrates the import responsibility periodically in order that minimal help costs (MSP) of oilseeds are protected. A very good components is to maintain the responsibility at a stage in order that the price of imported oil will not be decrease than the price of home oil at MSP.