Three Indian Programs Shaping Crop Protection
27 March 2012 By Bipul Saha
Contributing Editor
India is constantly re-examining its agriculture policies, including farmers’ access to markets, sustainability and crop intensification. Recently, three high-profile developments could help accelerate the use of crop protection products, especially in rural areas.
First, India President Mrs. Pratibha Patil called for “out-of-the-box” solutions for enhancing the productivity in rainfed and dryland areas (RFDF), which form 60% of the agricultural land in India. The RFDF areas contribute 44% of food production in India. The President expressed concern over very low investment in RFDF areas as compared to integrated areas.
President Patil made the statement at a high-level workshop on “Policy Initiatives for Promoting Partnership between Stakeholders in Agriculture with Particular Reference to Rainfed/Dryland Farming”, which was held in the office of the President of India on February 15, 2012 and attended by the president, prime minister, 20 governors of state and 37 vice chancellors of agricultural universities.
In the same workshop, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh also emphasized on improving agriculture productivity to meet the total demand of food grain in coming years.
“We need a growth rate of at least 2% in food production as compared to only 1% achieved during the ten year period from 1995-96 to 2004-05,” he said. “We cannot afford to be complacent since the demand for horticulture and animal products is increasing very rapidly, and this will require some shift of area away from production of grain. Therefore, agricultural productivity in grain production has to go up handsomely”.
Dr. Singh also called for enhanced focus on farm research and reforms in agricultural marketing, in addition to intensification.
Second, On the basis of the recommendations of a global management consultancy firm, a plan was drawn up by the Central Government to restructure the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to improve the scope of the bank’s activities. The plan has been opposed by bank employee organizations and several members of parliament, as the move may increase the interest rate for rural credit.
Mr. Basudeb Acharya, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture said: “NABARD plays an indispensible role in providing credit to farmers and should be repositioned in a democratic manner.”
Bank managers justified its repositioning and said the exercise was aimed at improving the scope of operations, without replacing or modifying its traditional credit and development functions.
Third, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which has been criticized for decimating labor availability in rural areas, is getting tweaked with harvest season in mind. Revisions for the $8 billion social security program are being considered by an expert group led by planning commission member Mr. Mihir Shah, who has suggested that some agriculture work should be included in the scope of MGNREGS, such as System of Rice Intensification, soil conservation activities, production of manures and bio-pesticides, and the construction of seed storage bins, among others.
Dr. Bipul Saha is an editorial advisor and regular contributor to Farm Chemicals International. He has more than 30 years of experience working for multinational and Indian crop protection companies, pharmaceutical companies and other chemical industry divisions. He most currently was Senior Vice President with Nagarjuna Agrichem Limited, and he has also worked for Gharda Chemicals, Monsanto and Pfizer. He is a preeminent pesticide chemist in India and is an astute observer of Indian market influences that affect the domestic and global chemical market. Dr. Saha has been invited as Chairman and speaker in various National and International seminars in crop protection chemicals and agriculture.
Get The Newsletter Today!
