Focus should be on market-led agriculture: Expert

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 26

The two-day international conference on “50 Years of Economic Development in Punjab”, organised by the Department of Economics, Punjabi University, Patiala, in collaboration with the CIPT, New Delhi, concluded here today.

The valedictory session of the conference was chaired by BP Singh, Professor of Eminence, Department of Sociology, Punjabi University, Patiala, and valedictory address was presented by Prof Sukhpal Singh, Director General, Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh.

Prof Sukhpal said “The agriculture sector of Punjab is ‘grown’ not ‘developed’ and has to cover a long way to development. Same is the case of industrial sector which is mostly small scale and has global linkages more as a supplier in the age of buyer-driven value chains. Services sector also tells the same story as it is not linked globally and not knowledge driven.”

Prof Sukhpal pointed out some major problems that Punjab was facing such as very low employment in manufacturing, small and occupational caste specific rural non-farm jobs, employment needs of rural youth, volume (production) and commodity-driven agriculture production systems, MSP orientation of major crops perpetuates agro-industrial backwardness, state’s failure to leverage Centre funds for agro-development, poor educational and employment prospects, declining rural livelihoods and agrarian distress, non-pro-poor state policy and too much reliance on conventional agriculture sector for too long.

Prof Sukhpal stressed that the patch work carried out by successive governments to tackle these problems was no more sufficient and the time had come for people to understand the need and importance of community-based institutions and systems. Discussing the poor condition of agriculture in the state, Prof Sukhpal mentioned that Punjabi farmers were no longer the entrepreneurs they were and were now heavily dependent on state for funds, market for crops etc.

Taking about the future, Prof Sukhpal emphasised the need to change the prevailing institutional set-up and focus should be on market-led agriculture, high value crops and enterprises, contract farming, and diversified livelihoods. Water sharing arrangements should be encouraged, especially for small farmers, and shared consumption should be stressed in order to check the depleting water resources as well as cost of production. The old theory of producing more and more food grains needs to be changed and new high value crops need to cultivated, keeping the atmosphere and environment of Punjab in mind.