The story of the progress of Punjab's agriculture in the post-Partition period is still fresh in memory. Punjabi farmers, including Haryana's Jats, adopted new technologies to create the "first" Green Revolution in mid 1960s. They transformed rural Punjab by adding buoyancy to the region's economy.

Later, when the country was in the grip of food shortages, a 'grain' revolution was sown with the introduction of high-yielding Mexican wheat varieties. It was clearly because of these disease-resistant varieties, fertilisers and irrigation that food security could be provided to the nation. Along with this came a new breakthrough in agriculture — mechanised farming.

In fact, the story of Indian agriculture is the story of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, which played a key role in giving farmers and their wives a new opening in crop farming, animal husbandry and allied fields. The university, popularly referred to as PAU, developed and disseminated agro-technologies resulting in integrated rural development and the generation of employment in the agriculture-related service sector. It also enabled farmers to get a remunerative price for their produce.

Farm production ultimately witnessed a quantum jump leading to surpluses in food grain, primarily wheat and rice. The productivity of wheat and rice was 1.244 tonnes per hectare and 1.009 tonnes per hectare, respectively, in 1960-61. It increased to 4,694 tonnes per hectare and 3.347 tonnes per hectare, respectively, in 1999-2000. The cropping intensity increased from 126 per cent in 1960-61 to 186 per cent in 1999-2000. Consequently, the net sown area of a farmer increased. This would not have been possible in the absence of short-duration varieties developed by PAU that led to the double cropping pattern.

But the terms of trade remained unfavourable to agriculture till mid-1990s. Agriculture is still taxed between 22 per cent and 31 per cent. Due to the minimum support price, high yields and high cropping intensity, the gross income of the farmer was pegged at a certain level and it led to an improvement in their economic condition. But no longer. The economic condition of farmers in the region has become a matter of concern in recent years.

The increasing population has led to rapid fragmentation of land holdings. Punjab is now a land of small farmers. Of the total of about 12 lakh operational holdings, 73 per cent are smaller than 4 hectares, covering 33 per cent of the total area. The family income of about 50 per cent of the farmers is lower than the income of unskilled workers at the lowest wage level in the state. There is, therefore, no cushion available to farmers to face economic hardships.

All this calls for radical policy changes now that the World Trade Organisation regime is knocking at our door. Its ultimate impact and implications can be ignored only at the peril of agriculture.

The current problem of plenty due to bumper wheat and rice harvests should not lead to the withdrawal of incentives and concessions to farmers. Agriculture in this region still remains crucial to India's food and social security as it was in the ’60s. Some impressive gains in other states notwithstanding, Punjab and Haryana together still account for nearly 20 per cent of the total food grain production --- nearly 50 per cent of rice and as much as 85 per cent of wheat going to the Central grain pool for running the public distribution system.Under no circumstances can agriculture be allowed to become unsustainable in this region identified as the 'farm belt' of the country.

If that be so, how does the modern society look at agriculture, which is at the centre-stage of global attention? "Agriculture is no longer a mere way of life. It is a way of making profit". This was stated in a paper, "Reflections on the ethical values and agricultural research" by Klaus Lampe, who as Director-General, International Rice Research Institute, Manila, read it at Punjab Agricultural University as part of the Dr M S Randhawa Memorial Lecture in September 1991. He said, "Of the three production factors — labour, capital and land — land plays the dominant role. Agriculture has become a technology for the mass production of plant and animal-based nutrients....

"Social change, the destabilisation of rural societies that starts with the disintegration of extended families, and most disturbingly, population increase are creating problems of previously unknown dimensions. Again, the so-called Third World countries will suffer most. Within their societies, the poorest will carry most of the burden...."

The future of mankind depends as much in matching population increase with higher food production as its availability at affordable prices and good health, education, clean environment and civic amenities.

This brings us to the basic question of ‘sustainable’ agriculture, particularly in India’s farming belt — Punjab and Haryana— where intensification has brought about environmental hazards, as indicated in a fact-finding report submitted by experts to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Ecological degradation has been triggered in this belt following climatic changes and temperature variations. Due to declining solar radiation, it is even more difficult to keep weeds, pests and diseases under check. Yet this region remains as crucial to India’s food security as it was in the ’60s or ’80s, says the report.

Experts have repeatedly suggested ways and means to pull agriculture out of the present quagmire resulting in economic disparities in incomes and causing social tensions. Terms like "diversification", switchover from "high-volume, low-value" crops to "low-volume, high-value" have become common as suggested means to break rice and wheat rotation pattern.

The challenges ahead for agriculture are immense. So are the opportunities. Agriculture requires to undergo a complete change in terms of agricultural education system, research priorities and extension services. It calls for dovetailing agricultural technology with the prevailing social and economic milieu. Emphasis, as suggested by the Dr M. S. Swaminathan Committee Report on Education for Agriculture, has to be on "food security, ecologically viable agriculture, employment generation, agri-business, agricultural economics, agriculture management and social sciences."

The world today is one big ‘farm-market,’ making international agricultural research relevant. Donald L. Winkelmann, Director-General, CIMMYT, Mexico, in another Dr Randhawa Memorial lecture at PAU on January 24, 1992, remarked, "Agricultural research benefits society in at least three ways. By making it more likely that the poor will have access to food. By serving as a lubricant to economic development through its impact on the cost of agricultural commodities, especially food, and by playing the role of an engine of growth through its impact on incomes in agriculture."

Multidisciplinary approach and networking by scientists is potentially beneficial to society because agricultural research sustains the resources threatened by farm activities. For developing countries in general and regions like Punjab and Haryana in particular, agricultural research is something akin to insurance.

This is, perhaps, one reason why there is a trend and a demand that private sector and multinationals invest in agricultural research and development. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said 50 years ago: "Everything can wait but not agriculture".

This calls for introspection and introduction of "system changes" in employing research techniques. These may range from bio-technology to genetic engineering, setting up germplasm banks to collating and dissemination of information. From assessing global needs to acquire knowledge of space science, computer and information technology to the knowledge of soil health and water management in order to evolve farming systems commensurate with existing social and economic capabilities of tillers.

The need now is for area-specific and precision farming. Right from using proper inputs to post-harvest handling, transportation, storage and distribution, all operations require scientific handling. These have also to be economical or cost-effective, calling for a paradigm shift in thinking, planning and dissemination of knowledge in the language of farmers.

Many lessons from the experience gained in the past 50 years remain to be learnt. The span of 50 years can be divided into four segments, as the ICAR’s Assistant Director-General, Dr Mruthyunjaya, says: "Up to the mid-60s, the national aim was to increase food production to manage famines and supply raw material to industry. In the mid-60s and 70s, self-sufficiency in food grain production and effective food grain distribution and management was achieved. In the 80s, there was resilience in food grain production, stress on diversification, poverty alleviation and rural employment. In the ’90s, the talk revolved around food and nutritional security, sustainability, post-harvest technology and management, value addition and exports."

From what agricultural scientists, economists and social scientists have suggested all along, it transpired that it is the ‘political environment’ more than anything else that matters in planning or adoption of new technology. Unfortunately political environment is still missing.

For any meaningful breakthrough in agriculture or re-seeding of the "second" Green Revolution, there is a need to remodel all agricultural universities. For this a major exercise has been undertaken by the ICAR with World Bank assistance.

In all future planning, agriculture will be the focal point because the country has a large population solely dependent upon land. Despite agriculture being a state subject, all important decisions from pricing of inputs to price of produce should be taken by New Delhi.

Thus it is obligatory on the part of the Centre to finance state agricultural universities to reinvent their education, research and extension to better serve the end-users, the farmers. Even the Dr Swaminathan Report suggested that at least 1 per cent of the GDP, both at the Centre and in states, be earmarked for agricultural research and education and at least 20 per cent of that for education alone.

Agriculture today is in a transitional mode. So important is agriculture that the theme of the 88th session of the Indian Science Congress, held recently in New Delhi was "food, nutrition and environmental security."

Media reports, quoting experts, present a pessimistic picture of food scene vis-à-vis future requirements. They maintain that challenges and opportunities can be met if correctives are applied now. Information and knowledge on future agricultural needs and what is required to be done is available. However, the big question is where to take-off? How to go about? Who will break the mind-set?

The rate of population growth is 1.8 per cent each year. This means providing adequate nutrition to 1.3 billion people by 2030. The requirements of food grains, milk, vegetables and fruits, meat, eggs, fish, edible oil etc. have been calculated. So have been the fodder and fuel-wood needs. There is no easy way to meet future needs. India may boast of full godowns as of now but still 20 million people have no access to enough food because of poor buying capacity.

The arable land is shrinking and the rest getting degraded. Soil health is a cause of worry. It is deficient in nutrients. Shifting cultivation causes damage to nearly a million hectares every year. Water and wind have caused erosion of nearly 150 million hectares. Salinity and alkalinity affect another 10 million hectares.

In this scenario, will the "second push" to agriculture, as envisaged by Punjab or "accelerated pace", as New Delhi puts it, meet the future food requirements? Therefore, while producing more food, it is also important to pay a thought to conservation of natural resources, which is as important as integrated rural development. Even as one awaits the Congress recommendations on meeting new challenges and taking advantage of available opportunities, the question that remains unanswered is why the government did not respond to Dr Swaminathan’s recommendations on agricultural education.

The report had recommended a one-time grant of Rs 3,000 million to upgrade teaching, research and infrastructure, to all state agricultural universities. For undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, vocational training, libraries, information network, Panchayti Raj Institutions and distance education, it recommended Rs 3,500 million. It further recommended Rs 1,500 million on restructuring home science and Rs 500 million for advance learning. An equal amount was suggested for mobilising services of emeritus scientists for "Science for remedying regional imbalances in agriculture" scheme. For the development of Krishi Vigyan Kendras, it recommended Rs 100 million. The total allocation recommended for the Ninth Plan was Rs 10,000 million. But the recommendations have not yet been implemented.

Punjab Agricultural University played a significant role in ushering in the Green Revolution. A agrarian transformation was set in motion within a short span of time. This was in mid-sixties. The same Green Revolution has now paled and agriculture looks fatigued. Concern is now expressed on the declining trends in production and productivity and low farm incomes. The debt burden of farmers is increasing. On the one hand, farmers’ desire for a better standard of living and addiction to alcohol is crippling them.

Punjab Agricultural University has prepared a "Perspective Plan, Vision-2000" that issues a warning, "We must re-seed the Green Revolution to provide sustainable livelihood security to our people." Its recommendations are in tune with the general concern expressed by agricultural scientists elsewhere. These recommendations also suggest "integrated" approach to farming systems, ensuring synergism between productivity and sustainability. This can be achieved through assessment and dissemination of technologies based on integrated pest, plant nutrient, and soil and water management methods.

In sum, agriculture should be of as much interest and concern to those who sit at the table enjoying food as it is to the tillers. The country has to continuously produce millions of tonnes of food at affordable prices in order to survive. Our survival, therefore, is intertwined with that of the farm sector.