Is it diversify or perish for farmers in the Punjab?
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COMMENTS 
In the face of Punjab's acute water crisis, the government wants farmers to switch from water-intensive wheat and paddy to oilseeds and pulses. But the state is divided on the crop-diversification debate, with farmers demanding a minimum support price for the switchover
Sixty-year-old Beant Singh, who has a three-acre farm in Chotiyan village in Patiala's Sangrur district, does not live up to the image of a sturdy, hatta katta Punjabi farmer. Beant is poor and ailing. But he's been farming for the last 50 years of his life. He, and thousands like him, helped spearhead the Green Revolution in India.
When asked to give his take on the crop diversification debate presently raging through the Punjab, Beant Singh replies in his slow, philosophical fashion: "Give the farmers a little and we, in return, are willing to give our lives. When we were told to grow dwarf wheat and paddy, we did so. When we were told to grow eucalyptus and poplar, we did so. We would be happy to switch over to pulses and oilseeds, but for that the government has to offer us a minimum purchase price."
The crux of the problem is that the government wants the changeover to take place without providing farmers a safety net.
Punjab today is caught in a bind. Present agricultural practices have seen a stagnation in crop yields and a sharp decline in water resources. So much so that experts point out that while in 1955 Punjab had 34.8 million acres feet (MAF) of water, today it is left with only 12.8 MAF. Its present requirements are over 36.5 MAF.
It was with these problems in mind that the Johl Committee brought out a detailed study in July 2002 on the need to diversify crop patterns in the Punjab. If this was not done immediately, the report hinted, the state of Punjab was likely to become a desert within the next two decades.
In his diversification report, Dr S S Johl, chairman of the Punjab Planning Board and an agricultural expert, wanted the state government to release 2.5 million hectares of land from paddy and wheat cultivation in order to grow oilseeds, sunflower, soybean, barley, maize and basmati rice. He also asked the Centre to pay a subsidy of Rs 12,500 per hectare to farmers who agreed to the switchover.
Johl feels very strongly about this subject. A former vice-chancellor, he says: "Hand pumps have become museum pieces in Punjab. The water table level has gone down 17 metres (from 10 feet). Farmers can no longer use immersible (pumps) but have to use submersible (ones). In such a scenario, why should the central government drag its feet in providing farmers with an annual subsidy of Rs 1,000 crore in order to grow oilseeds? By increasing oilseed production, we will help reduce import costs on oilseeds and that will result in a substantial net saving for the government."
Barely had Johl released his report when several Punjab-based economists launched a tirade against him. Leading the brigade was none other than the redoubtable Professor H S Shergill, an economist at the Punjab University in Chandigarh.
Shergill believes there is an international conspiracy to destroy Punjab's agricultural base. "Outside the US and European Union, which have a surplus of foodgrain production, every other region in the world is importing food, right from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia to the Far East. The only exception is Punjab, Haryana and western UP which are surplus foodgrain states, as is Thailand. China imported 40 lakh tonnes of wheat last year, while Pakistan imported between 20 to 30 lakh tonnes of wheat in the same period. Similarly, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia are huge importers," he says.
Shergill backs this statement up with some strong arguments against diversification. "Modern agriculture can no longer fit into the diversified mode and agriculture in Punjab is more modern and developed than even the US," he says. He adds: "Punjab owns 4 lakh tractors and has the highest per capita density of tractors in the world. The Punjab farmer's soul is no longer that of a peasant who grows some fruit trees, vegetables and has a couple of chickens in his backyard, as is the practice of subsistence farmers in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. The Punjabi farmer does not even make desi ghee in his house anymore. He is an out-and-out commercialised fellow who wants to earn Rs 500,000 per acre from his holding. And he can only do this if he grows wheat and rice and not if he follows Johl's crop-diversification suggestions," says Shergill.
Professor Ranjit Singh Ghuman of the department of economics at Punjab University, Patiala, feels otherwise. "The water table is fast going down because of paddy cultivation. Punjab is facing an ecological crisis. Rice is not a traditional crop in Punjab and the rice fields here are consuming 85% of all freshwater supplies. A proposed change in crop patterns will save Rs 10,000 crore in procurement, handling and storage costs," Ghuman feels.
Ghuman also believes the present crisis facing agriculture is linked to the government's complete withdrawal from the agriculture sector. "Government expenditure on agriculture has come down from almost 4% of GDP in 1975-79 to 1.5% in 2003-4. Public sector spending has seen a similar decline from 52% to 24%," he points out.
Under such circumstances, experts believe, important issues like soil salinity, toxicity, micronutrient deficiency and waterlogging in some areas are not being touched upon at all.
Professor Sucha Singh, who also teaches economics at Punjab University, believes that "Punjab's farmers have acquired an expertise in growing wheat and paddy, which cannot be replicated all that easily. Both these crops have good export potential since most African and Central Asian countries need wheat."
But experts also admit that unless the state government announces a minimum support price for pulses and coarse grains, farmers will be unwilling to risk the switchover. As farmer Beant Singh says: "Changing to an alternative cropping pattern is a major decision. Wheat and paddy are strong survival crops. They almost never fail. None of the alternative crops can ensure us even half the income being earned from wheat and paddy. Why should we allow our incomes to drop while incomes in other sectors continue to go up?"
And so the debate continues even as over-stretched groundwater levels reach a crisis point. Experts say that whatever gains accrue in the short run will be offset by an ecological crisis in the long run. But for the present, no one cares.
(Rashme Sehgal is a Delhi-based writer and journalist)
InfoChange News & Features, May 2005