CONFERENCE ON AGRICULTURE AND ECONOMIC RECESSION
AgriNews
ansindia at gmail.com
Sa Apr 25 08:38:18 CEST 2009
ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE ON
AGRICULTURE AND ECONOMIC RECESSION
A round table conference on “_GLOBAL ECONOMIC SLOW
DOWN AND INDIAN AGRICULTURE_” was organized by Agriculture
Today Group at Public Library of IARI, New Delhi on 24th April,
2009. Professor M.S. Swaminathan chaired the event and many
dignitaries such as Dr. C.D. Mayee, Chairman, ASRB, Dr. Mohan Kanda,
Member, National Disaster Management Authority, Dr. H.S Gupta,
Director, IARI, Dr. M.P Varshney, VC, GAU, Anand, Dr. D.P. Ray,
VC, OUAT, Bhubaneshwar, Mr.Andrew Lam, Agri Counselor, Canada
High Commission, Mr. RC Gupta, DDG, FAI, Mr. R. G. Agrawal,
Chairman, CCFI, Dr. T. Haq, Former Chairman, CACP participated.
More than 50 participants representing different companies and
government departments were present at the occasion who took
this opportunity to share their inputs and thought provoking
ideas and views on the global meltdown and its impact on
agriculture.
Dr. Hari Shankar Gupta, Director, IARI while welcoming
the gathering believed that the unemployment situation created
by lay-offs due to the recession may prove to be a blessing in
disguise for agriculture and development in rural areas due to
reverse migration.
While opening the session, Mr. M.J. Khan, Chief
Editor, Agriculture Today said “the economic meltdown has done much
harm to the food, beverages, FMCG and energy sector, as these
meets our basic necessities, but the prices fluctuated wildly,
without any economics. Bayer, CFL, ITC, Monsanto, Rallis India
and Advanta India, the major agri-business corporates shares
have not been affected much during the same period, when major
IT and other manufacturing and service firms’ market value
crashed/ got the beating of economic recession. The exports of
textile, marine products and processed foods were affected to some
extent. But there lies opportunity for companies to streamline
operations and shed off the extra burden in terms of lay-offs
to get more efficiency”.
Addressing the participants, Dr. M.S Swaminathan, M.P
(Rajya Sabha) said there is no clear cut effect of recession on
the farm sector but to some extent the export has been
affected, particularly the textile and plantation sector. However, he
suggested that we should stimulate consumption in the country as
92% of our produce is consumed locally. Regarding agricultural
development, he suggested strengthening of the post harvest
infrastructure in the form of rural godowns and warehouses not
only for the food grains but also for fresh fruits and
vegetables, adoption of IPM & INM system, strengthening of
agriculture extension services through social engineering and social
mobilization at the Panchayat level. He was very critical about
the hunger and malnutrition status in the country, “We should
ensure that malnutrition and hunger is removed in the next 10
years”, he asserted. He also stressed on the availability of
quality human resources for the development of the sector,
“Over 60% of our population is below the age of 35 years and
the very big challenge is to attract and retain the young
generation in agriculture”. He also proposed for the establishment
of a separate think tank for framing agriculture policy.
Dr. Mohan Kanda, Member, NDMA said that Indian economy
has shown resilience to the meltdown compared to other countries
but we have to be very cautious as we are going through
liberalisation, privatization and globalization. “Our society
is very conservative so the effect has not reached to its root.
Moreover, a solid and firm base for food production has negated
the effect of the economic recession”, he said. He feels
that the lending rate of banks and financial institutions to
the rural sector has decreased over the years but on the positive side
it has reduced the impact of recession on the farm sector.
Dr. C.D Mayee, Chairman, ASRB said that the climate
change and economic slowdown are the two sides of the same coin,
“Ultimately, global economic slowdown will damage the ecological
aspects”, he said. However, Mr. Mayee is confident that the
economic slowdown will create more awareness about agriculture
in the parliament and as a result there will be more activity
and development in the sector. He also said that in the near
future agriculture profession will see more elite people and
there will be a renewed interest in the sector.
Dr. Ramesh Chandra from National Centre for
Agriculture Policy asserted that recession has not affected
agriculture to a large extent but at micro level it has
affected India’s export, increased competition in trade and a
decline in demand for energy. He further said that India is not
insulated from the global melt down and much would depend upon
terms of trade and trade policy for agriculture. “There is a
need to ensure that economic slowdown does not affect the
Public sector investments in agriculture and the credit flow to
agriculture” he said. However, high quality and high value products,
and organic products will be affected more adversely, he said.
Moreover, he suggested that policies are needed to counter
adverse effect on export and to safeguard against import.
“Prevalent trade policy for agriculture is just opposite of
what it should be during global recession. Rather than pushing
export, there is ban or restrictions on export of those
commodities where we have surplus”, he concluded.
Addressing the conference, Mr. Andrew Lam, Agriculture
Counselor, Canada High Commission said that better and
transparent agriculture trade relation between the two countries will
help to beat the recession. “The major challenges in Indian
agriculture are subsistence farming, poor post harvest
infrastructure and lack of a proper supply chain. Both India
and Canada can partner to develop the sector and increase the
efficiency of farming”, he said.
Dr. T. Haq, Former Chairman, CACP told that recession
effect is non significant but it is not nil. He also called for
drastic changes in the government policies, more specifically fixing
of MSPs and urged for the adoption of the recommendations of
National Commission of Farmers for overall growth of the farm
sector.
Dr. M.P Varshney, Vice Chancellor, AAU, Anand said
that recession effect is seen only in the luxury items like diamond
industry of Surat, which has suffered from the meltdown and
totally collapsed. The workers migrated to their villages and
engaged themselves in farming. He said that food and
agriculture industry is generally recession proof but to some
extent the biodiesel and international trade has been affected.
“India’s agribusinesses should revert to the basics. Manage
costs, work on improving productivity, examine and re-examine the
economics of any proposed expansion before increasing debt or
using-up capital”, he suggested.
Mr. R.C. Gupta, DDG, FAI said that recession in the
farm sector has been shielded by the government protectionist
attitude in the form of MSPs and subsidies. As the subsidy burden of
the government has reached an unsustainable level, the industry
expects some bold and effective steps by the government to
resolve the situation, he said. The Indian fertilizer industry
today is one of the most regulated industries in the world.
“The industry in the long run would prefer to be de-regulated
and be allowed to operate like any other industry”, he added.
R.G. Agrawal, Chairman, Crop Care Federation of India
said slowdown of economy will not have much effect on
agriculture. However, he feels that the extension system should be
strengthened in the country, “ The T&V system developed during
the Green Revolution period was successful but after that
whatever system was developed did not succeed. There is an
urgent need for revival of the same ”, he said.
Other distinguished participants who presented their
views on the issue included Mr. Ian Mottimer, Agri Counselor,
Australia High Commission, Mr. Raju Kapoor, President, Jubilant
Organysys; Mr. P.G Chengappa, Vice Chacellor, UAS, Bangalore;
Dr. Gajendra Singh, Former Vice Chancellor, Doon University;
Mr. Pankaj Mishra of Rural Mart
A new monthly magazine in Hindi from the Agriculture
Today Group called Krishi Today was launched in the august
presence of Dr.M.S Swaminathan. The magazine has been
conceptualized with a view to disseminate information of relevance to
farmers, extension workers, government officials ,agriculture
industries and rural masses. The magazine will play a frontal
role in creating awareness amongst farmers and all those
associated with agriculture in the hindi heartland of India.
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