AS the PML-N prepares to take over reins of the Punjab government, the party has advised all departments, including agriculture, to prepare five-year development plans.
That is a good omen. If the province prepares a long-term policy framework and pursues them through next five years, the provincial development would certainly be more integrated, more fruitful and more beneficial for everyone.
The party knows the province’ weaknesses and strengths well, and it may time to put that knowledge to work.
The agricultural department would do well if it works on three-tier policy framework: how to encourage use of balanced farm inputs, bring more integration, and train farmers to produce quality and standardised products.
There are is a long list of other areas (ever receding water supplies, climate change, changing dietary habits of people, land fragmentation, unplanned urbanisation, etc.) that would challenge Punjab planners. Such a plan will only succeed if the planner and executioner know, and are capable of doing, what it plans to do. Unfortunately, current working conditions, mode and work ethics of the department hardly inspire that kind of confidence in it.
Presently, its four directorates, that have to conceive and lead any initiative, are in total disarray that creates more confusion than clarity.
Similarly, most of wings (crop reporting, pest scouting) under them duplicate each other’s work, and create uncertainty in the field. Foreign funded projects, which bring luxury vehicles and heavy salaries, are another source of perplexity as they were never integrated in the system.
They are conceived and executed independently, but report to the departmental head. The entire field force of the department is working under the district coordination officers (DCO) and does not report to the parent department anymore.
To be efficient, the departments need to be a lean, integrated and organised unit. Keeping in view population growth, the province has to ensure wheat production well over 20 million tonnes in the next five years, from current 18.50 tonnes.
It would require rice yield to grow to 3.5 million tonnes from 3.2 million tonnes, and maize and sugar cane production to increase to 3.5 and 50 million tonnes respectively. All these figures suggest domestic requirements, not export possibility. For export regime, Punjab will have to take an entirely different route of planning and production.
Precisely for these reasons, input sector would be of vital importance for the planners. Take the example of balanced fertiliser use. The province uses 62kg fertiliser per acre. All experts suggest NPK ratio of 2:1:1. It means if a farmer is using 10 kg of nitrogen, he should use five kg each of phosphorous and potash. In Punjab, the ratio is 50kg:10.50kg:500 grams. This eventually means destroying soil fertility with every passing year.
The Indus civilisation boasts of being 5,000 years old, which means that the soil has also been in use during those five millennia to varying degrees. And if the province keeps on taxing rather than renewing land, it may not be able to permanently ensure food security.
Apart from balanced use of inputs, which experts believe can increase input by a straight 20 per cent, the province has to quickly set things right on the seed sector.
There must be an elaborate system to trail farmers, certify farms and introduce agriculture-related technology. With more than 90 per cent farmers holding around five acres of land, training, awareness and technology hardly make any sense for them.
That is where the government’s five-year plan can contribute; encouraging, through policy, some kind of community farming — routing all facilities through these organisations. Once these farmers are put back on their feet, the province can experiment into other forms of farming, like corporate farming.
Fortunately, Punjab has huge clusters of kinnow, mango, potato, rice and maize fields where farmers’ training can be very easy, and so would be technology transfer.
On top of them all, the province has a very elaborate system of middlemen, who hold almost 70 per cent of any crop in pledge. They also have direct and very effective linkage with the farmers. These middlemen can be put to very effective use for farmers’ training and in introducing technology.
Agriculture revolves around farmers and unless they are taken on board in policy-making chances of success become remote.