Indian Growth Model

Bikash Choudhury

We have all heard the oft repeated quote ‘marriages are made in the heaven while Mullahs make money’ one more identical quote could be proffered now ‘Traders make a killing while Farmers give up their lives’. To be precise 1.2 million farmers gave up their lives in last one decade on account of repeated farm failure and growing loan burden on their shoulder. If we look back into the pages of history; India was rich and famous with its Agri, Agro and Forestry while it had gone places in Art, Architecture, Literature and culture. All our World Class monuments like Konark to Taj Mahal, Khajurao to Red Fort and Globally acclaimed Educational portal—Nalanda was created from the income of an agrarian economy for say 1500 years. If it is so then why our farmers have to kill themselves brutally for not being able to support themselves and their family from the income generated out of Agriculture? Since, the first generation of reforms of 1991; our politicians, economist and arm chair intellectuals in the living room constantly argue about a need for an appropriate Growth Model; however, we have not come to a conclusion yet. And, many commentators are looking at Infrastructure led model of USA, Technology Innovation Model of Japan and Manufacturing sponsored Growth Model of China & South Korea. Keeping in view of the fast changing climatic condition in the planet and growing human population, India should and must adopt the “Agrarian Growth Model” for faster & sustainable development of the country. Further, incase of India over 70 % population live in rural areas and since, all most all farm lands are located in rural areas; Agrarian Growth Model would be able to touch and influence the lives of maximum people in the country. With improved and growing farm income in rural areas there would be demand for good quality education and healthcare which can be provided by private sector at a price and with profit which would improve the investment climate in rural areas which would open the flood gate for innovation and entrepreneurship in the areas of post harvest care of farm produce, its storage, processing and market linkages while creating employment opportunity through creation of adequate numbers of non-farm jobs cementing an eco-system that could attract investments from cities and towns in to allied farming activities which in itself give impetus to growth across the economy. Having argued enough in favor of ‘Agrarian Growth Model’, can we leave behind other two important drivers of our economy- manufacturing and infrastructure, never. GoI and a few State governments have already taken series of initiatives in these two sectors like ‘Make in India & Digital India’ for manufacturing and concerted efforts for expansion & speed in Road and Rail sector that would soon capture the attention of domestic private sector and foreign investors. However, the Government initiatives in Farm Sectors are constrained by easy credit, farm subsidy, and support price mechanism until recently; Prime Minister has now announced an extensive “Farm Insurance” scheme that would certainly come to the rescue of our farming community; however, those could not take the place of a growing need for a Structural Change in our Agrarian Economy that deals with entire gamut of issue pertaining to our current approach to farming, its processing and distribution. Farmer suicides are just the symptom of non-remunerative farming in the country; the principal disease is much more catastrophic and dangerous--- that is falling Nutrient Content in our Farm Lands with indiscriminate use of synthetic fertilizer and pesticides which again creating a very high cost Agri-Economy that has turned toxic with increasingly unpredictable Climate Change Phenomena and paucity of Irrigation Infrastructure. We now have to examine seriously and junk the current model agriculture and return to our Natural Method of Agriculture which is low cost and sustainable; apart from that it would produce Healthy Food Products without contamination of toxic fertilizer or pesticides. It is also expected to attract optimum valuation for mass produced organic food products with growing Global Health Awareness. It is quite easier said than done. But, if we consciously choose the “Agrarian Model of Growth” for our country; then, we could walk an extra mile to make it happen. GoI and respective State Governments have to make a concerted effort on Agriculture Extension program to create awareness among our farming community on Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) that uses locally available farm inputs from seeds, manure and pest control materials which are effective and low cost. It is important now to concede that it is next to impossible for the Government to provide 100% Irrigation Infrastructure for our farms; however, it is possible to conserve maximum possible rain water through a ‘popular public movement for rain water harvesting’; with improvement in water table the productivity of our Agriculture sector would grow substantively with minimum cost. Government could also encourage Co-operatives large scale farming and corporate farming through suitable incentives; Government also needs to attract private investments in Food Storage and Food Processing Industry that should kill the Farm Wastages from food to plate. GoI has announced a Village Cluster Policy for rural areas which need to be extended to private sector with fiscal incentive or suitable prescription in the CSR policy of the Government. Private sector investments in the Farm Sector of our country would multiply the top line and bottom line of corporate sector and trade. This would be a very challenging exercise for the Union Government as Agriculture remains a State subject which would require a proactive collaboration between State & Central Govt. apart from co-operation of all Political Parties inside and outside parliament.

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