The Hindu Business Line : Rice strains

This is with reference to the editorial “Rice strains” (Business Line, October 26). From a country where food shortage was an accepted fact and permission had to be sought from the Government to host a marriage lunch and dinner, we have come this far.

While the intelligentsia discuss in forums issues that need to be tackled to rectify this anomaly, little gets done at the ground level.

From the mid-1970s till now, the misuse of funds earmarked for irrigation projects is a classic case in point.

Today, India is at the crossroads, as the editorial points out. Given the communication access to many areas even in the hinterlands of the country, today, the rural-urban divide is visible to many.

With the increased thrust now on augmenting food production, it is time the policy-makers got together to focus on the next area.

The cultivated land share is reducing by the year due to rapid industrialisation. If one has to pay the correct price for the agricultural produce, we run the risk of increasing inflation.

We cannot subsidise imported food, but we can extend subsidy to the agriculturists.

While we are moving towards a full-fledged market economy, where services are paid at cost, it is essential that the sector that provides the maximum employment opportunities pays the labour minimum wages in relation to industry wages.

This has to be achieved through direct subsidies and in a transparent manner. What is needed is a change in mindset and one only wishes that the politicians see the long-term benefits of such an approach.

Efforts to introduce grain varieties that require minimal irrigation and are resistant to diseases, have to be encouraged with state-funded initiatives.

V. Balakrishnan e-mail