The political instability in the state has played havoc with Punjab agriculture, The production of wheat and rice has gone down considerably. Below is compared din tons in lakhs the arrival and procurement of wheat for some of the years. No reliance can be placed on the figures for production as it is manifestly incorrect and a distortion to talk of “38 quintals per hectare which would increase to 40 quintals per hectare next year.” (Tribune Sept.23,1992). It can easily be proved that this represents playing with figures to impress the authorities with their performance and are over estimated. Such brazen lies do not provide food for the poor, they don’t provide health care and don’t provide employment and improve Punjab’s educational standards. I do not know if such statements are made out of lack of courage to acknowledge the truth or out of ignorance. The steep downward fall in arrival and procurement shows that Punjab has been bled white and the rate of growth has slowed.
About paddy, the less said the better. In an article entitled “Punjab’s Paddy Prospect for 1992-93″, a P.A.U. expert on Sept.10, 1992 estimated the production to be 64 lakh tons. This however does not take into account the loss in production due to floods in the best areas along rivers Ravi and Sutlej and the huge loss of yields due to hopper menace and the production may finally come down to 54 lakh tons. At 40%, the state may be able to procure about 22 lakh tons of paddy. this was 33 lakh tons in 1984 up to December 12, so that this shows a shortfall of 11 lakhs. After a lapse of 9 years in agricultural growth. What a sorry state of affairs!
Yet another myth, The Tribune dated February 27,1985 reported the evolution of a suitable variety resistant to plant hopper in an advanced stage of development. It was stated the growers can expect a “miracle” whereas the attack of disease may cause huge loss of yield, Where is the miracle?
The Center and the State were very anxious to promote the output of oilseeds and pulses to prevent the drain of foreign exchange, resources in the import of edible oil and pulses. Below is compared in kg the yield of Maize, groundnut and gram for some of the years. Groundnut is the most important Kharif oilseed crop in Ludhiana district. Against the state average of 709 kg preheat are in 1987-88, its yield fell to 533 kg only in the district that year. The manufacture of Mazola as cooking oil from Maize is being carried out on a large scale in the U.S.A. and it also witnessed a steep downward fall.
Evidently, the bread basket of India has not only started leaking but it has burst to dangerously low levels and under the present conditions would never regain its pristine glory.
I do not blame the experts, the P.A.U. or the Punjab agriculture department for this mess, but the political leaders of the Center and the State who have not been able to solve the basic issues concern: ing the future of Chandigarh, boundary adjustments, share of river waters and the rights of State vis-a-vis the Center who have created the labor problem for timely agricultural operations in the rural area in the absence of migrant labor.
In a village near Kohara in Ludhiana district in the bet area which I visited, I was told that the yield of groundnut had come down from 20 mds per acre to about 506 mds per acre. Back to Ludhiana, I went to P.A.U. and met a young scientist dealing with groundnut in the chemical laboratory who had only recently returned from Russia. He was very cooperative and helpful and told me that the problem was probably due to lack of micronutrients like zinc which probably has now spread to the other groundnut growing areas of the district. lam sure if the cultivators were educated on this situation at the Kisan mile by field experiments or by laying down some demonstration plots on the cultivators’ fields in the district, the situation could easily have been retrieved.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 30, 1992
