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| AGRICULTURE TRIBUNE | Monday, May 19, 2003, Chandigarh, India |
Early transplantation is on
Johl plan’s workability the issue
TREE TALK
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Early transplantation is on Paddy pain
Early paddy transplantation is on, against all advice, raising demand on ground water and other inputs. Farmers ready for forceful ban on early planting; but say if one does it, the neighbour will also have to. Unrecommended varieties and two crops planned, potential for major market problem. BLAME
it on bhed-chaal
(mob mentality) or the inability of farmers to gauge the seriousness of
the declining farm returns and the ever-depleting water table, they
continue to follow the traditional timings of cultivating and
transplanting paddy. Most of the farmers of Punjab have not only
cultivated paddy nurseries but have also started transplanting it. The
state government and the electricity department is yet to come out with
a forceful appeal to the farmers to delay the process. Each year the
government releases advertisements, spending lakhs, appealing to the
farmers to postpone paddy cultivation. But the public money spent on
propaganda goes waste as the timing of these advertisements does not
coincide with the cultivation time.
While the advertisements are yet to
appear, most of the farmers have already started transplanting the crop,
with the rest irrigating the fields heavily to prepare for the
transplantation. By the time the advertisements appear, the farmers
would have already done the deed. Unlike Pakistan, where warnings are
aired on Radio Pakistan against early sowing and the defaulters are not
only fined but the nursery is also destroyed by the authorities, we
persist with mere appeals.
Month in advance Punjab
Agricultural University had sent a flash message to the farmers few days
ago only, asking them to sow the nurseries after May 10, despite the
fact that the work of sowing started more than a month ago.
Interestingly no feed back is provided by the state agriculture
department. A survey of a few villages in the Jagraon belt by a Tribune
team revealed that most of the farmers, who harvested wheat in the first
week of April or even before that, have already sown the nurseries and
their saplings are all set to be transplanted. Only the farmers whose
harvesting was delayed were yet to sow paddy.
Ban acceptable
"If a farmer in my
neighbourhood has already sown the nursery, I cannot afford to wait for
another fortnight. If I do, I would expose my fields to the threat of
insect pests," said Gurpreet Singh, a farmer of Mandiani village.
Explaining, he said insect pests would start emerging on the early crop
and when his own saplings of a delayed crop appear, the already matured
insects would attack ferociously. "Moreover, if my neighbour
sprays insecticides, the insects would leave his fields even faster and
gather on mine; and I would not be able to spray chemicals because my
plants would be too small for that yet. So I have no option but to
cultivate when my neighbour does," he added. Manjit Singh, another
farmer, said if the government wanted to stop this practice, the only
method was to ban early sowing and enforce the orders at any cost.
"Look at the way the Pakistan Government does it. They plough the
fields of a farmer if he cultivates the crop earlier that the
recommended time. If we also follow a similar method, no farmer would
dare do it."
Double trouble Certain farmers said that
they were pinning hopes on a new local paddy market bracket created by
the ever-increasing population of migrant labourers in the state and
were planning two crops this year. Besides putting strain on the
depleting ground water, farmers in the district are sowing advanced and
unrecommended varieties of paddy that labourers from Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh prefer. Most of the farmers have already prepared nurseries of
a PUSA, or Satha, variety that would be transplanted soon and mature in
August. "We know at that time there would be no procurement agency
in the market. But we have consumers right at our doorstep, the migrant
labourers," said Rajinder Pal Singh, a farmer of Mohi
village. "We have already struck a deal with our labourers that we
would pay them in kind. So the first crop would go to our labourers,
which would ensure free labour throughout the year. After the first
crop, we would the Govinda or Satha variety. This we would sell in the
market as it would be ready by mid-October," he revealed, adding
that he would cultivate paddy on all of his 25 acres and had not thought
of diversification as yet. The Govinda variety matures in 70 days while
the Satha in 60 days, as the name suggests. A farmer of Jagraon
subdivision, Maghar Singh, said he would transplant these varieties to
15 acre of his land by mid-May. After harvesting this crop by August, he
would sow another variety of the same crop, which would mature in 70
days. Another factor contributing to the practice of early sowing is
the freer and cheaper availability of labour during this period. As time
goes by, the demand for labour increases as transplanting begins on a
mass scale all over the state. |
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Johl plan’s workability the issue FOR
long, Punjab has been wrestling with various problems confronting its
agriculture, a lifeline of the state’s economy. Efforts and
initiatives at government as well as farmer level have not resulted in
towards any resolution. The most-talked-about remedy in recent times,
which has been fully backed by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh,
has been the one suggested by Dr S.S. Johl, who is held in high esteem
in this field. He submitted an agriculture diversification report in
1986. Being currently head of the Chief Minister’s Advisory Committee
on Agriculture Policy and Restructuring, Dr Johl recently produced an
updated version of the 1986 report. The fresh report has been submitted
to the Union Government and discussed with the Planning Commission and
top brass of the Union Agricultural and Food Ministry. But it appears
the Centre is not interested in implementing it. By and large,
agriculture experts agree with what Dr Johl has recommended. However,
certain experts doubt the applicability of the report and are not sure
if the outcome would be positive, if implemented. One of the recognised
faces among these critics is Mr H.S. Shergill, Professor of Economics in
Panjab University, Chandigarh, whose work on rural indebtedness has
attracted attention. In brief, Dr Johl believes that there is a need to
shift at least one million hectares of land from producing rice and
wheat (8.04 million tones) to other crops. The Centre has been showing
reluctance in procuring these foodgrains for the Central pool. However,
it has to procure it for Rs 6976 crore every year, whether under
political pressure or otherwise. Adding the cost of handling,
transportation, storage, losses, etc, the total cost of this stock goes
up to Rs 9000 crore. Even if these foodgrains are disposed of at a price
at which they are provided to people below the poverty line, the
government loses over Rs 5000 crore a year. Dr Johl has argued that it
will be in the interest of the Union Government if these foodgrains are
not produced at all till the stocks get reduced to a manageable
level. He says by spending only Rs 1280 crore, one million hectares of
land can be replaced to other crops by providing compensation to farmers
for not growing wheat and paddy. He has called scheme crop adjustment
programme. The Centre would be able to save Rs 3720 crore (Rs 5000-1280
crore) by this, he estimates.
Too ambitious Mr Shergill, who
is closely associated with the Institute for Development and
Communications, Chandigarh, says that since 1986—when the first Johl
report was prepared—farmers have increased about 10 lakh hectares
under paddy and 3 lakh under wheat. They did exactly the opposite of
what Dr Johl recommended. "The benefits of the scheme are small and
uncertain, but its negative effects are huge and certain," contends
Mr Shergill, commenting on the implementation of the new Johl
report. He says to begin with, it is not possible to shift such a large
area (10 million hectares) to other crops in one year, which would mean
a reduction of 38 per cent in present area under paddy and 29 per cent
under wheat. Considering the two crops together, it means a straight
reduction of 33 per cent area.
Loss in the end Also, farmers
will suffer a loss of Rs 13,280 per hectare if this scheme is
implemented. This is how: The total loss of income from each hectare
that is taken away from wheat and paddy will be Rs 31,222. Even after a
compensation of Rs 12,500 (as recommended) and an earning of Rs 5,442
from alternative crops per hectare, farmers’ net loss per year will be
Rs 13,280. The total loss from one million hectares will be Rs 1328
crore. Will the farmers accept such a big drop in income, he
wonders. This would also mean a 33 per cent fall in the income of
agricultural labourers. The same would go for other groups connected
with paddy and wheat—mandi labour, commission agents, workers, etc. He
says the exact loss in earnings of agriculture labour and others will be
Rs 100 crore. For instance, the mandi labour alone will suffer a loss of
Rs 73.4 crore. Raising a significant point, Mr Shergill says that
one-third of the rice shellers in Punjab will be closed down once one
million hectare area is removed from paddy. It will be a major setback
to the promotion of agro and value-addition industry in Punjab. A new
effective programme of minimum support price and assured procurement
will have to be set up for alternative crops. A proper system for the
distribution of compensation money (Rs 1280 crore in total) among the
approximately 10 lakh farmers spread over 12,000 villages will have to
be created. The involvement of panchayats in the distribution could a
road to disaster. The government involvement in procurement will
increase rather than decrease.
Effect on economy However, Mr
Shergill, too, has not concentrated much on one significant point. At
present there is an assured procurement of wheat and paddy, which, for
10 million hectares, costs Rs 9000 crore to the Centre. About 90 per
cent of this assured money goes in the pockets of the state’s farmers,
labour force, etc. This money is pumped back into the urban economy by
farmers and the labour, which cannot afford to hold the money, by way of
purchase of household goods, consumer items, clothes, etc. Up to 90 per
cent of the urban economy, which has a negligible production base in
Punjab, is solely dependent on the rural economy, essentially
trading. Now if this Rs 9000 crore is withdrawn from the urban economy
in one year, it can lead serious consequences. In all, Punjab covers
roughly 3.4 million hectares under wheat and 2.6 million under paddy. On
the foodgrains produced by this 6 million hectares, the Centre spends Rs
54,000 crore, which works as the fuel for the state’s economy. This
is not to say that the current system should continue, for it is
unsustainable. But solutions have to be found that can be implemented
without major turmoil and are acceptable to the main player of the game —
the
farmer. |
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TREE TALK Identification:
An evergreen shrub, eirund looks akin to the papaya, about 4 to 6 m
tall, with thin light greyish-brown bark. The leaves, alternately
arranged on twigs, are palm like, 20-40 cm in spread, each having 5-7
palmate lobes, light green above, and glaucus below. The petiol, hollow
in section, is 15-20 cm long. Eirund flowers are monoecious, arranged
in terminal sub-paniculate recemes. The upper part being female, the
lower is male. It has several stamens and filaments connate. In the
female part, the calyx is spathaceous, caducous, ovary three celled and
each cell has one ovule. The fruit is a globose capsule, generally
echinate and 10 to 25 mm long. The seeds are oblong, mottled and smooth
with a white caruncle. Eirund generally flowers year round, but more
profusely from May to August. The fruit appears from July to October. Distribution:
Eirund being a native of Africa grows in the warm climes of almost
the entire Asia — in the Indo-Gangetic plains and from Sri Lanka to
the outer Himalayan tract with an altitude of up to 2000 m. Utility:
Eirund is useful in several ways, especially in medicinal
applications. The seed is rich in oil, the content being nearly 45 per
cent. Caster oil is an effective purgative. It is also one of the best
lubricants for machinery, especially automobiles. The cake left after
the expulsion of oil contains a crystalline ricinine, some active lipase
and enzymes. Other constituents are albuminoidal, traces of sugar,
mucilage and up to 18 per cent glucose. Raw castor seed is known to be
very poisonous. Just two or three seeds taken inadvertently can prove
fatal. The oil taken with milk or fruit squash acts as a good purgative.
It is used in ointments as a soothing agent. It is also used by rural
folk to hasten difficult cases of child delivery. Castor oil is used for
making contraceptives too. In fact, knowledgeable people use eirund
leaves, flowers, seed, roots, bark and oil for remedying a large number
of ailments. Being small in stature, eirund is hardly of any value as
timber. Dead and dry branches are, however, used as firewood. Castor
seed sells at about Rs15 to 20 per kg. Raw oil can fetch nearly Rs 100
per kg. Cultivation: Eirund can be cultivated easily from seed.
It does well in humid locales, but is sensitive to frost. Sandy to sandy
loam soil is good. The crop is generally raised during monsoon and takes
6-8 months for optimum production of mature seed. It can yield up to 100
quintals of seed on a one-hectare plot. The plant can contribute well
to the country’s green cover as also foreign exchange. |
EIRUND,
the castor plant, a small-sized tree, or a humble large-sized shrub, is
very useful to man. Christened Ricinus communis in scientific terms, its
family is Euphorbiaceae. Generally growing in the wild in hedges in the
urban landscape, it is also seen flourishing happily all over the
tropical rural wastelands from the sea level to 2000 m. Castor plant
being its English name, it is known by several regional vernacular
names, in addition to eirund. These are eran, erenda, arandi, etc.