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While inaugurating the National Workshop on “Enhancing Competitiveness of Indian Agriculture” in the capital today, the Union Minister of Agriculture, Shri Sharad Pawar said that the Indian economy cannot sustain high rates of growth without enhancing the competitiveness of Indian agriculture and effectively linking it to remunerative opportunities in domestic and world markets. The Minister said that though India had certain advantages and the potential to be ahead in agriculture products the present agricultural productivity of numerous foodgrains is far below that of its competitors. Given below is the text of the Minister’s speech:
“Shri Y.C. Deveshwar, Vice-President, Confederation of Indian Industries, Smt. Radha Singh, Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, leaders and representatives from Farmers’ organizations, representatives from Trade and Industries, Senior Scientists and officials from Government of India, State Governments and international agencies and distinguished invitees.
2. I am extremely happy to be here with all of you to inaugurate the National Workshop on a subject that is of vital concern to all of us and close to my heart. As you are aware, our economy cannot sustain high rates of growth without enhancing the competitiveness of Indian agriculture and effectively linking it to remunerative opportunities in domestic and world markets. We have several competitive advantages in agriculture comparable to those of any other country in the world. First, it has regions, which are climatically favourable for cultivation of every commercially important plant crop - ranging from temperate orchard crops such as almonds and apples to tropical mangoes and pineapple. Second the country already possesses the largest acreage of irrigated land in the world with a sizable potential still to be tapped. Third, the gap between present productivity and proven technological potential is very large for most crops; yet even so, the country is already among the world’s top three producers of tea, cotton, sugar, foodgrians groundnut, coffee, eggs and milk and leading in many more agri sectors. Fourth, the country has an abundance of available skilled, educated, technical and scientific manpower.
3. India has thus the potential to become a global leader in agriculture. Progress so far has been achieved primarily by increasing rice and wheat yields through development and adoption of high-yielding varieties, expanding irrigation, and increasing fertilizer use. Cropped area has increased steadily as expansion in irrigation has boosted multiple-cropping and cropping intensity. Performance in respect of other crops has been mixed. In the case of pulse crop (chickpeas, pigeon peas, lentils, dry peas, etc.), an important protein source in diets and oilseeds, success has comparatively been less in increasing output. In these commodities, we are among the world’s largest importers. WTO trade regime has changed rules of the game and we need to work to bring the benefits of changing trade environment to the farmers.
4. The potential for raising agricultural productivity is enormous. With 60% more arable land, India produces less than half the quantity of foodgrains grown by China. Brazilian yields of black pepper are six times higher than India, utilizing varieties originally imported from India. In rice, Indian yields are one-third the level in North Korea. Maize yields are one-sixth the level of Chile. Wheat yields are one-third Ireland’s average. Soyabean yields are one-third the level achieved in South Africa. Productivity in pulses is one-tenth the level of France. In groundnut Indian yields are one-sixth Israel’s average.
5. Agriculture exports, including textiles, have also been steadily rising. Processed fruits and vegetable, cotton textiles, sugar, and fish have vast export potential. Grape and mango have begun journey to Western Europe and so is the case with cut flowers. New floriculture projects are springing up around the country. Processing is another area that can multiply the export value of farm produce and open up vast international markets. India currently processes less than 2% of its agricultural produce compared with 30% in Brazil, 70% in USA and 82% in Malaysia. With rising incomes, consumers have begun purchasing fewer staples (like rice and wheat) and demanding more convenient high value food items (such as hygienically packed meat, dairy, pasta and frozen vegetables.
6. The task of moving food from ‘Farm to Table’ across the border is a complex process, involving diverse local, national, and global agents and networks. Food markets are constantly evolving, driven not only by changes in consumer preferences, but also by technology and information flow, linkages between members of the food supply chains, and prevailing policies and business environments. We need to take these developments on board and devise measures to increase market orientation, improve marketing efficiency, and make agriculture investment profitable for entrepreneurs. This is as important for the individual farmers trying to maximizing his living standards with limited land, financial resources and knowledge of market as it is for private sector seeking profitable investments in the agri-business sector.
7. Our Government is committed to bringing about major reforms in the agriculture sector. The aim is to build on the successes of the Green Revolution, deal with the surpluses that we are building up and take our farmers higher up the value chain to make them globally competitive. Towards this direction, several legislative reforms have already been initiated in laws dealing with agriculture sector, namely, the APMC Act, the Essential Commodities Act, and the Forward Contracts Act. Integrated Food Law and law dealing with Negotiable warehousing receipt system will soon be on the anvil.
8. This Workshop is organized to identify and address the issues that are affecting the competitiveness of Indian agriculture and the measures to be taken to enhance it. I am looking forward to your specific suggestions in identifying commodities that have the potential to compete in Global markets, the policy measures needed to support integration of domestic farm production with emerging global markets including food parks and agri export zone and the areas of public private partnership in the development of agri infrastructure to support competitive agriculture.”
Also speaking on the occasion Secretary, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Smt. Radha Singh said that intention of the Workshop was to focus on identifying the commodities and crop groups in which India has comparative advantage, and understanding of the export constraints at the commodity level and formulating appropriate strategy for export promotion. The Workshop is being organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
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