What is the issue?
- The growth rate of Punjab’s agriculture fell to 3% between 1987 to 2005 and it went durther down to 1.6% between 2006 and 2015.
- This is less than half the all-India average of 3.5%.
What is the problem?
- Punjab is endowed with one of the best possible infrastructures for agriculture in the country.
- The network of regulated mandis in Punjab is one of the best in the country.
- A robust and fast-moving procurement system has reduced the market risks of wheat and paddy growers in the state.
- Almost 90% of the market arrivals is procured at the minimum support price (MSP).
- So, this system has made Punjab’s farmers risk averse.
- This also discourages farmers from diversifying the wheat-rice cycle e.g Diversification from common rice to hybrid maize.
- Farmers are reluctant to switch as there is no effective procurement system for this crop.
- Lack of diversification poses a threat of ecological imbalance.
What could be done?
- With the GST coming into force, the processing industry could be incentivised to prefer Punjab over other states in purchasing agricultural raw material.
- There should be vigorous efforts to increase productivity and procurement of rice in the eastern states.
- Simultaneously, Punjab should promote the use of micro-irrigation, especially for sugarcane and fruits and vegetables.
- The dairy and meat industries are other sources of diversification for Punjab’s agriculturalists.
- They can also diversify towards fruit and vegetables.
- The government will also need to invest in marketing infrastructure for fruit and vegetables, as it did for grains by creating a robust mandi infrastructure.
- A modern expressway from Khanna (Punjab) to Kandla (Gujarat) could be helpful in the faster transportation of fruit and vegetables.
Source: The Indian Express
