GLOBALISATION & DEVELOPMENT

1. GLOBALISATION & DEVELOPMENT Abhaykumar.S.K

2. A DISASTROUS YEAR 2005 Some Stark Realities • Beginning with titanic tsunami of 26 Dec 2004, and ending with the disastrous earthquake in Kashmir and floods in Tamilnadu • Farm and fisher families - subjected to the fury of nature – drought and floods • Institutional support to small farmers – weak • Institutions - supposed to help farmers - research, extension, credit and input supply agencies, are by and large not pro-poor and pro-women • Mechanisms for risk mitigation are poor or absent • Hardly 10% of farmers are covered by crop insurance

3. Some Stark Realities • Farm families - not covered by health insurance • No Agricultural Risk Fund • Both risk mitigation and price stabilization are receiving inadequate policy support • According to farmers (as in the report), the cost of production is invariably higher than the Minimum Support Price, due to ever increasing prices of diesel and other inputs • Investment in agriculture has suffered a decline over the past two decades • Capital formation in agriculture and allied sectors in relation to GDP is declining

4. Some Stark Realities • Investment to agriculture research has suffered a decline • Post harvest infrastructure is poor • National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) -nearly 40 %, of farmers would like to quit farming • NCF recommends that the agricultural year 2006-07 be designated as the “Year of Agricultural Renewal”

5. Synopsis of Recommendations • Land • Water • Credit and Insurance • Technology • Markets

6. LAND • Commemorate 2006-07 as the year of Soil Health Enhancement. Emphasis on dryland areas, to begin the second green revolution • Retool and rejuvenate soil-testing laboratories to address the problems of micronutrients deficiency in soil • Establish a national network of 1000 sophisticated soil testing laboratories. • Issue Soil Health Passbook to every farm family based on an integrated analysis of the physical, chemical and microbiological properties of the soil. • Organize Travelling seminars for farm men and women to learn the factors responsible for “agricultural bright spots”, with priority to horticulture. Another method of facilitating Farmer-to-Farmer learning is the establishment of Farm Schools in the fields of farmers-achievers.

7. Water • Have a Policy of Water for Agriculture. Converge all Technology Missions around a Watershed or Command Area • ii. Launch a Million Wells Recharge Programme, Rebuild water bodies and bring about greater integration between currently fragmented progrmames. • iii. Launch a Water Literacy Movement, training Water Masters in every Panchayat. Increasing supply through rainwater harvesting and recharge of the aquifer should become mandatory

8. Water • Set up National Rainfed Area Authority to help in converting scientific know-how into field level do-how through large-scale demonstrations. The Authority should also help to foster water conservation, Pani Panchayats, scientific land use planning and assured and remunerative marketing. • v. Promote seawater farming for coastal area prosperity – pilot projects covering about 50,000 ha in all coastal states to demonstrate conjunctive use of sea and fresh water and forestry and aquaculture. • vi. Establish a National Research Centre on Glacierology for collection, storage and dissemination of information on status of seasonal/perennial snow and ice • vii. Launch a National Challenge Programme for Coastal Systems Research (CSR), for concurrent attention to coastal agriculture, agro-forestry, culture and capture fisheries

9. Credit and Insurance • Parivar Bima Policy - for rural poor for providing hospitalization expenses, life cover for deaths/disabilities and cover for dwelling units • Launch a drive for credit and insurance literacy amongst farmers • Set up a Rural Insurance Development Fund for promoting insurance coverage • Providing support to the banking system for reducing the rate of interest for crop loans to 4% during the Year of Agricultural Renewal. • Outreach of formal credit system to reach the really poor • Urgent need for a paradigm shift from micro-finance to livelihood finance • Need for an Agri-risk Fund

10. Credit and Insurance • Distress ‘hot spots’ – moratorium on debt recovery • Issue of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to women farmers • Distress sale - need for pledge loans • Crop insurance is covering only about 14% of the farmers. Scheme needs to be made more farmer-friendly and the premium reduced. • Establish Credit Counseling Centres where severely indebted farmers can be provided with a debt rescue package of information

11. Technology • ICAR institutions and Agricultural Universities to commemorate 2006–07 as the Agricultural Technology Year Major aim - to strengthen participatory research and knowledge management with farming families Lab to Land programmes in the area of post-harvest technology, value addition to primary products and biomass utilization • Post-harvest technology wing – for every Krishi Vigyan Kendra and the help of other institutes like CFTRI and CSIR taken in designing the Lab to Land Programmes • Agricultural scientists should state the performance of new varieties and technologies in terms of net income per hectare, and not just in terms of yield per hectare

12. Technology • Cadre of Rural Farm Science Managers • Scientist – Panchayat linkage • Genome Clubs may be organized in village schools and KVKs to spread genetic literacy • All programmes designed to foster access to technologies must be gender sensitive.

13. Technology • Develop Computerized Farm Advisory System Every Village a Knowledge Centre Movement • Organising National Federation of Farm Technology Missions A Technology Mission on Sugarcane A National Mission on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants • Provide greater research support for Organic farming • National Agricultural Biosecurity System on a hub and spokes model - to help in preventing pandemics like Avian Flu (H5N 1 viral strain) • Facilitate setting up of Agriculture and Aquaculture Service Centres

14. Markets • Amendment to Acts/legal instruments: Essential Commodities Act and other legal instruments including the State Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Acts [APMC Acts] relating to marketing, storage and processing of agriculture produce need to be reviewed in order to meet the requirements of modern agriculture and attracting private capital in this sector. • Improving the rural periodic markets • Role of the APMCs/ State Agriculture Marketing Boards • Commodity-based farmers’ organisations • Implementation of MSP

15. Markets • ‘Market Intervention Scheme’ [MIS] • Import tariffs on farm products produced in resource poor regions deserve to be carefully monitored and maintained at such levels as to provide sufficient incentives to dryland farmers. • Pre–production Agreements to sell • Set up a Livestock Feed Corporation of India jointly with NDDB, SFAC and NABARD x. • Identify Organic farming zones • Develop an Indian Single Market for agricultural produce for strengthening producer oriented marketing to give power of scale to small producers. • Promote trade, patent, quality and genetic literacy

16. THANK YOU