Agriculture in NE: Prospects, Policies and Practices’
Yours truly was recently given the responsibility of organizing the above Conference at Guwahati (September 30-October 1) and this column is based on the discussions and presentations made at the Conference. The purpose was to understand and reach out to the stakeholders, especially in areas which have major challenges with regard to food security, and where livelihood opportunities in agriculture are falling behind, not just in numbers, but also in the potential for earning with respect to other sectors. The Conference was attended, among others by the Union Agriculture, Mr Sharad Pawar, the CM of Assam, Mr Tarun Gogoi, Union Agriculture Secretary Mr PK Basu and the Agriculture and Horticulture Minsters and Secretaries from the North east region.
Regional Meetings and Interactions
This was important because while at the aggregate level, the Agriculture Ministry had been quite successful in achieving high production levels in most crops, in spite of the vagaries of nature, there was an imminent need to look at each of the regions to understand how farming systems and farmers incomes could keep pace with the growing expectations of farmers. Readers may recall that AgriMatters had reported on the conference of Eastern states on extending Green Revolution to the region a few weeks ago.
The North east Region: Diversity, Diversity and More Diversity!
In order to place things in perspective, it is important to underline the unique features of the North east The North Eastern region comprises eight states: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. With nearly 8% of the total geographical area of the country and a population of thirty one million the region is now gearing up to meet the challenges of food and nutrition security especially as economies get linked to markets. Even within the North east, there can be no single strategy as the crops, soils, food habits, cultural practices and economic systems are extremely diverse. Nearly two thirds of the region is under hill terrain, and of the of 4.4 million hectare net sown area of the more than one tenth is under shifting cultivation.
Organic by Default
The region is characterized by difficult terrain, wide variability in slope and altitude, land tenure system and cultivation practices, including ‘slash and burn’. The transport and communication system is still being developed. As a result, vast stretches in the region continue to be inaccessible. As a natural sequel, the agriculture production system is mostly rain fed, mono cropped and at subsistence level. However, it also means that the region is naturally organic, and this fact can be leveraged both for the domestic and global markets. There is need to identify high value horticulture, medicinal and aromatic plants and ensure that there are sufficient volumes and transparent price discovery mechanisms. The region is also a biological diversity ‘hotspot’ and therefore the potential for improving crop varieties using the available gene pool is quite high.
Strategy for NE Plains
In the plains, the goal should be to increase crop intensity by better utilisation of irrigation potential and cultivation of short duration crops. Increasing the land area under double cropping in a phased manner would considerably enhance productivity. Measures such as expanding areas under High Yielding Varieties, more balanced use of organic manure and chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and steps to balance soil conditions to reduce soil acidity are needed. Controlling the annual floods in the Brahmaputra and Barrak Valleys and strengthening the embankments to control soil erosion should be an important part of strategy for the development of agriculture in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Addressing Jhum cultivation
In the hills, the tribal population has, for generations adopted shifting (Jhum) cultivation. While the strategy here should be to wean them away from this practice, this has to be done not through displacement, which would endanger their food security, but through persuasion and demonstration of alternative livelihood systems and building their capacity to adopt and engage in productive and sustainable livelihood. The ill effect of ‘Jhum’ cultivation has intensified due to the diminishing “Jhum Cycle” which has shrunk from 30 years of earlier decades to 5 to 8 years presently, which is hardly sufficient for re-building the soil fertility. The loss of soil due to erosion and reduction in organic carbon due to burning contributes to serious decline in productivity of hill areas, besides causing heavy siltation in the lower reaches of major river systems of the region leading to heavy annual floods, in the area.
Efficiency in Public Spending
Another issue that came up for discussion was the need to ensure efficiency in public spending. unlike the previous Plan periods, there was no constraint of funds but the ability to absorb these funds, and more importantly, leverage them for multiplier effects was the major challenge . How do we ensure that the research done at ICAR and SAUs is mainstreamed in the production systems of the farmers of this region? How do we ensure that the diverse commodities produced by the farmers get proper returns? Most participants pointed out that the reach of credit co-ops, rural banks and agricultural insurance was not very extensive in this region- and it was necessary to work together to look at innovative products and processes, to ensure that funds were available and utilized optimally.
Light at the end of the Tunnel
The conference ended on a positive note for everyone felt that there was light at his end of the tunnel. There were institutions like NERAMAC (North East Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation) which had the potential to intervene in the markets and assure price support to the farmers. There was need to make the MIS norms liberal, and this was agreed to. With Bangladesh agreeing to construct a highway linking West Bengal with Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura, the issues of access, logistics and movement of goods and people would be substantially improved to the mutual benefit of both Bangladesh and India. But more than anything else, it was the generation of several new ideas, and many more aspirations that gives a positive feel, and the conviction that there is light at the end of the tunnel.