• Johlspeak at a glance...

ree talk
The good old eucalyptus
K. L. Noatay
ONE fast-growing group of trees that can combat the situation of fast-depleting wood resources is of the genus eucalyptus. There are nearly 130 different species of this genus, though the most important is Eucalyptus tereticornus. The genus belongs to the family Myrtaceae. Lay Asians call them by a few regional names like safeda, mysurgum, etc.

Change is difficult, yet we must
Centre to take up Johl proposal on January 8
P. P. S. Gill

"AGRICULTURAL Production Pattern Adjustment Programme in Punjab for Productivity and Growth". This is the title of the report of the Chief Minister’s Advisory Committee on Agriculture Policy and Restructuring that the Chairman, Dr S. S. Johl, has submitted to Capt Amarinder Singh. The sweep and scope of the 120-page report, minus the annexure of a special scheme, "Managing supply side of food grains in India: Focus Punjab," justifies the long title.

While the report may read a trifle academic, the fact is that it also gives a simple, stern warning: "Unless we improve the cost effectiveness of our agricultural products and become competitive in the international market on the strength of cost, price and quality, the future of agriculture in Punjab is in great danger." And the scheme in the annexure is the nucleus of the report. It is the pill that Johl gave to the Planning Commission, which popped it and is now savouring it. (A discussion on the scheme is slated for January 8 in New Delhi to enable the Union Ministry of Finance to make budgetary provisions for the proposed diversification). The scheme deals with breaking the wheat-paddy lock. It offers an actionable solution to several problems related to or arising from the wheat-paddy rotation.

This is the second time Johl has done it. Sixteen years ago, too, he had submitted a compact report on "Diversification of Punjab agriculture." Circumstances so evolved over the next couple of years that the Punjab Government developed an "indifference" towards those recommendations. Today, Johl, along with his 10-member team, has once again mirrored Punjab agriculture, recapitulating the situation comprehended by him in 1986. He forewarns what the future holds for Punjab and its agriculture, if the present 95 recommendations are ignored yet again and not implemented. To quote from the report, "The committee is mindful of the imperative need to ensure that recommendations are economically viable/revenue neutral, socially acceptable and politically sustainable.…"

All 11 chapters have been carefully crafted touching the core issues. If agriculture is the anchor of Punjab economy, wheat and paddy have turned out to be the two villains, which have necessitated such a report. Suggesting alternatives, or diversification, in agriculture, as a profession and as a means of livelihood, is a difficult proposition, as there are not many. And intertwined with the issues are people, farmers. Diversification, therefore, is not simply switching of furrows or sowing of an alternative crop. Attached to each requisite input and decision-making are human ethos and economies, and much more. The report, therefore, makes suggestions that have a ‘human face’. The report assures, "These recommendations should be immediately and easily actionable with no foreseen adverse consequences."

With such an assurance coming from well-intentioned and experienced minds, lets explore the report: It promises to be a means to integrating Punjab into the world economy. It has dissected agriculture sector-wise and crop wise, encompassing all factors before formulating any recommendation. May these factors be in respect of managing production and marketing of wheat/paddy or choice of alternative crops and reasons thereof, or soil and water conservation practices, or selection of vegetables/ fruits/ floriculture, medicinal, aromatic, spice crops, agro-forestry, sericulture or dairy farming. The report justifies the choice of the listed alternatives and gives agronomic practices for them as well as market potential, etc.

The chapter on dairy farming lists main problems and recommends future strategies. The present day dairy farming is a victim of low productivity, poor quality animals, poor feeding and management practices, inadequate health cover, higher cost of per unit production, problems of unproductive, useless animals, etc. It also refers to poor quality of milk, defective milk procurement system, lack of integration of government functions, less value addition, product development, and hassles of marketing.

The report has threaded all 11 chapters with a WTO needle. Therefore, very clearly and even at the cost of repetition, the report suggests a paradigm shift from ‘quantity’ production to ‘quality’ production, enabling farm products to compete in the world markets. For this there has to be a big leap forward to promote agro-processing, corporate or contract farming, change in certain revenue laws, etc. Punjab must involve the Centre for exporting farm produce and invite private sector and it goes on to unfold details on this proposal.

On reading deleterious effects of paddy on ground water, one gets a parched throat! Here is a fact sheet on over-exploitation of water resources due to excessive sowing of paddy, particularly early sowing, contrary to recommendations of Punjab Agricultural University scientists:

• 35 per cent of the total electricity is consumed by 7.5 lakh tubewells.

• Every year, the water table goes down by 30 cm.

• Water is declining in 77 per cent of the area, where groundwater quality is good and canal water limited.

• A critical water table depth below 10 meters has been reached in 28 per cent area.

• Districts where the water table is below the critical depth are: Ludhiana (40 per cent), Sangrur (56.5 per cent), Jalandhar (58 per cent), and Patiala (67 per cent).

• Area of central Punjab, where the water table has gone down below the critical level of 10 metres, was 3 per cent in 1973, 25 per cent in 1990 and 46 per cent in 1994.

Remember the warning Dr M. S. Swaminathan, a noted agricultural scientist, gave in his address to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi earlier this week? He said four major states, including Punjab, would face a gruelling search for water next year, 2003. The others are Rajasthan, Orissa and Maharashtra. The country has just passed through a dry monsoon and faced drought. Perhaps, the worst is yet to come!

The report goes on to give more facts and figures in respect of escalating costs of production due to rising costs of input, which eventually makes Punjab’s agriculture produce uncompetitive.

An interesting aspect of the report is at the end of Chapter 8. It refers to "some new crops and concepts in agriculture." It points to the need to thinking and looking beyond normal production patterns to the unknown and untried areas of land use. Some of these concepts are:

• Energy farming: Growing of fast-growing species of plants with more calorific value as replacement of normal crops because Punjab imports lot of coal from Bihar, Assam and Australia.

• Sowing crops like Aloe Vera, old ‘sattu’ with high fibre and low calorie value food items have a demand.

• Plants like hibiscus, hemp, etc., can be tested for pulp value for paper industry.

• Recreation parks and rural tourism, as in Indonesia, Thailand and Australia.

• Rearing of special animals that yield meat and/or fur for export purposes.

• Commercially oriented crops for non-farm use like luffa, khus, etc.

• Some high-yielding non-edible seed plants to supplement fossil fuels.

• Old culinary specialities.

In the ‘Perspective’ itself, the report elaborates on pricing mechanism, the conceptualities of minimum support price and goes on to caution that this system may not last for very long because the Food Corporation of India is already dragging its feet. Its operations are becoming costly, corrupt and unwieldy. The solution to all this as also the huge stockpile of food grains is what the report offers in a cogent manner, which will eventually be beneficial to the Centre, the state(s) and farmers in terms of financial savings on post-harvest handling of produce till the time it is disposed of.

The data in the report should be of as much interest to research workers, policy-makers as to political executives, bureaucrats and even ordinary Punjabis, who are rooted to the soil. One cannot agree more with the opening sentence of Johl committee report: ‘Change is difficult! Yet, change we must!’ In this backdrop, the same question props up like an obstinate weed: Will Punjab do what it should, now that yet another prognosis is available?