“Could the forthcoming budget induce a fresh lease of life, a healthier one, to the agriculture sector? Should it not look beyond the run-of-the-mill programmes and interventions such as subsidies on farming methods, crops, seeds, fertiliser, sundry inputs, MSP et.al.?
In my view, the forthcoming budget should, with a fanfare, announce a flagship programme Smart Village and Smart Farmer. Today we only have a Smart City. Why should rural infrastructure and facilities not be at par, if not better, than the urban? The woes of the agriculture sector are, to a great extent, the outcome of poor infrastructure. Let the budget declare a vision and policy encouraging reverse migration: urban to rural. Make the village, the farming and the farmer SMART. How? Approach agriculture as more than a basic food production system. Incentivise it as an enterprise. Let an educated urban boy and girl pronounce that I wish to be a farmer.
Income support, yes. Subsidies to offset the high cost of farming, yes. But let these not be the substitutes of investment. Invest as much in infrastructure, value addition, R&D, Digitalisation; basically in every activity that gives greater productivity and hence better monetary returns to the farmer. This wouldn’t be in any conflict with the government’s welfare and income support to the farmer. Let the investment be evaluated on the threshold of financial return. A rupee spent should return more than a rupee, and efficacy of this conversion should be measured by how much more. Treat agriculture as business and encourage financial returns on business principles. Let the focus shift from production to farmer, not merely in the idiom of welfare, but the measure of prosperity.
Finally, the budget must declare and demonstrate a strong commitment to reduce, if not eliminate, food loss and wastage. It is indeed sinful that, when a vast multitude grapples with hunger and malnutrition, one third of the food we produce is lost or wasted. This loss is not only economic but a loss of humanity too.”
