The Hindu Business Line : The knowledge revolution still eludes the Indian farmer

THREE interesting news items appeared last month. The first referred to the Independence Day promise by the Prime Minister that by the end of the current Plan, every district will have a Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), a new National Rainfed Area Authority to focus on problems of dry-land farming, and one crore hectares to be brought under irrigation.

The second was on the recommendation by former space scientist, Dr U. R. Rao, that the new drive on developmental aspirations should be based on the new found "knowledge society".

The third pertained to the suggestion by Mr Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies, that people should be moved from agriculture to the manufacturing and services sectors to make India globally competitive on the export front.

If one carefully analyses the economic development in Europe and North America in the 20th century, one will find that both the continents first consolidated their agricultural sector, then went on to manufacturing, and finally to the services sector.

True, Information Technology forms a crucial component of the tertiary sector in India. At the present rate of growth, in another 50 years, India's population would amount to half the world population. Where then will food that we need come from?

Even now, though the country is "self-sufficient" in food, more than 300 million Indians sleep on a empty stomach. India is home to the world's largest number of starving men, women and children and the per capita food availability of around 400 grams a day — well below the 500 grams set by the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad.

There is no perceptible change on the food front and yields of major food crops, such as rice and wheat, have plateaued.

Post-Independence, India made a big mistake in neglecting agriculture. It paid a heavy price in late-1950s.

Notwithstanding, the environmental and societal fallout of the so-called Green Revolution, one must admit that India did succeed in producing food in large quantities. There is a lot of talk now of transforming India into a "knowledge society".

This is also why Mr Sam Pitroda, the man who engineered a revolution in telecommunication in the 1990s, now based in the US, was appointed Chairman of the Knowledge Commission.

Agriculture accounts for the livelihood of over 60 per cent of the Indians. It is important to critically examine what this "new" concept can do to enhance agricultural productivity.

If today agriculture is headed downhill, it is not so much due to lack of knowledge as to a failure to utilise it effectively.

The farmer suffers losses because the farm-gate prices are manipulated to the advantage of the middlemen. A recent National Sample Survey covering 51,770 farming households in 6,638 sample villages, covering 18 States, reflects the rather pathetic state of agricultural extension services — the most crucial input in farming.

This is a clear reflection of the poor state of technology adoption in agriculture.

The Krishi Vigyan Kendras reach only 0.7 per cent of the farmers. And agricultural training programmes cater to just 0.9 per cent.

In other words, knowledge per se is not the answer, it is how the new knowledge is innovatively used that makes all the difference. Knowledge of technology is welcome, but this too has problems.

The biggest problem is that improving productivity in one sector and freeing up the excess labour for other activities, as suggested by Mr Murthy, is socially useful only when the economy is able to absorb the displaced labour in productive ways.

But the ground reality is that other sectors have not been able to generate enough employment opportunities even to meet the needs of those already unemployed.

This is one of the main causes for the deceleration of employment generation and for the "jobless growth" phenomenon of recent years.

The Finance Minister recently expressed grave concern over the soaring subsidy bill and referred to the "food-for-work" programme, which is a very important component of the subsidy bill.

If one carefully examines the family background of the beneficiaries of the programme, it would become clear that the bulk of this population is displaced farm labour. Why are they out of farms? If agricultural technology is as farmer-friendly and innovative as they are made out to be, one would not be witness rural migration.

If India is to come anywhere near being a "knowledge society" in the agriculture sector, a preliminary requirement is that farmers have access to quality knowledge regarding agricultural technology.

India's agricultural destiny lies in listening to the farmer and attempting to innovate rather than impose knowledge.

Without agriculture, India has no future and how it is practiced is a burning question. Certainly, moving people away from agriculture is not the answer.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Long live, Gen Musharraf!

Beware the gyrations

The knowledge revolution still eludes the Indian farmer

The pain be mine, but thine shall be the praise

How to disclose FBT?

Dragged beyond imagination

Give time its due

Disproportionate punishment

On how much is spent and how it is spent