- With a burgeoning population, there is a need for corresponding rise in food production in India.
- A post-COVID situation offers that unique opportunity to repurpose the existing food and agriculture policies for a healthier population.
- India, being trade-surplus in commodities like rice, meat, milk products, tea, honey, horticultural products, etc. may seize the opportunities by exporting such products with a stable agri-exports policy.
- Development of export-supportive infrastructure and logistics would need investments and support of the private sector that will be in the long-term interests of farmers in boosting their income.
- This is indeed good news in the COVID scenario, assuming agriculture can practice largely unscathed.
- Designing agricultural policies, post-COVID scenario, must include these imperatives for a food systems transformation in India.
- Immediately, the govt. should focus on the upcoming cropping season, especially ensuring timely availability of seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, credit and other inputs.
- R&D is the future
- One of the major barriers to boosting farm productivity is the lack of new technologies and major breakthroughs post the green revolution.
- While the National Agriculture Research System played a major role in the green revolution, in recent years there hasn’t been any major breakthrough in research.
- One of the main reasons for this is the lack of financial resources.
- There has also not been any major contribution from the private sector towards research and development.
- The government should thus woo private players by giving them incentives to play a major role in agricultural research and development.
Structural reforms such as land leasing, contract farming and private agricultural markets, etc. have long been advocated to bring enhanced investments into the agriculture sector and to push its growth. However, there has not been the uniform implementation of these legislations by State Governments and so the full potential of the sector is unrealized. These reforms need significant political will.
The end of the lockdown will not end the problems. On the contrary, they are likely to be compounded at the onset of the new agricultural sowing season. There is a greater need for government support in the form of support for other agricultural inputs. Lack of any relief will only make the agricultural crisis worse. The need of the hour is to maximise possibilities of agriculture, which has demonstrated its utility and resilience in trying times.
