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R. Balaji

Closely associated with the developments in Indian agriculture, including its scientific and policy direction, Dr M. S. Swaminathan formed the core team that made the Green Revolution in India, which saw the country end its ship-to-mouth existence. Dr Swaminathan, who has headed several international organisations including the International Rice Research Institute, Manila, says that India has to work with other developing countries to protect their interests in international trade while gearing up to meet global competition. Farmers will have to become more efficient and quality conscious, he says

Holding the Unesco Chair in Ecotechnology, and President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, Dr Swaminathan, now chairman of the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, spoke to Business Line on various aspects of, and impacting on, agriculture.

Excerpts from the interview:

What would you rate among the important developments in agriculture over the last 10 years?

Two developments in trade and technology are of immense significance. First, the WTO trade Agreement on Agriculture in 1994. We are confronted with a new situation in the context of external trade in which cost competitiveness, quality and reliability of supply are key. In domestic agriculture, marketing has become a key issue after quantitative restrictions in commodity trade have been removed.

The second development relates to biotechnology. Genetic modification has evoked both positive and negative reactions. We are going to face technological challenges. We have, for the first time, introduced Bt cotton. The US has large areas under genetically modified corn, maize and soyabean.

Can you comment on India's approach to the WTO negotiations in this period?

Developing countries, including India, were not prepared during the initial negotiations. The US gives substantial support to its farmers under the non-trade distorting category. So the Marrakech agreement was an unequal trade bargain. I have always believed that we must emphasise the difference between countries.

Agriculture is not a commodity machine but the backbone of the livelihood security system in India, where 70 per cent of the population is in the villages. So, agriculture is not just a question of economics and trade but of dignity and survival.

What opportunities are available to sustain increases in productivity in future?

The low productivity, at the moment, is more because of socio-economic causes than technological. At one stage, the credit delivery system had collapsed in rural India due to loan melas and the Harshad Mehta scam. More money was taken out of villages than put in. Without credit farmers cannot buy inputs for high productivity.

The Kisan Credit Card was in response to this situation. I told successive finance ministers that every farmer should have the card, which should also be linked to health and crop insurance. Productivity will increase if improved credit system provides timely support, and awareness is increased.

What should be the approach to adopting biotechnological tools in agriculture, and India's policy in commercialising GMO crops?

The regulatory systems need review and streamlining. This is why a committee, under my chairmanship, is looking at agriculture biotechnology. By early next month it will submit its report. We need to build on our strengths. The weaknesses in our existing structures need to be corrected.

India's policy since 1981, when Indira Gandhi set up the National Biotechnology Board, of which I was the first Chairman, clearly says to harness the tools of biotechnology to improve food, nutrition and health standards of the States. Now 20 years later, under the Department of Biotechnology, the policy continues to be to promote safe and responsible use of biotechnology in industry, agriculture and health.

India has been an exporter of primary commodities. How do we add value?

That is one of the great challenges in agriculture. Guatemala, a small country, earns more from pepper export than we do because of value addition.

We need systematic analysis of every commodity being exported of value, the marketing and costs. This kind of market-oriented applied research is weak. We need to look at exports in three parts: increasing conventional exports, value addition and new products for exports.

How do we guard against volatility in the price of agricultural commodities?

The world of demand and supply will always control prices. There is no getting away from market economy. We should ensure competitiveness in production and marketing, and not have two standards of quality for local and export markets. Quality must become the bottomline.

There is a great need for trade literacy, quality literacy and farmers need information empowerment. I have been pleading for the restructure of land use boards. A tool for avoiding the bust-and-boom situation is to advise proactively months before sowing and not grow more than this amount.

This year, the Tamil Nadu Government asked farmers not to go for rice in delta areas. This was good advice and we need more of that kind to stabilise prices.

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