The Punjab, apart from being a social, cultural and financial hub is no doubt the “Bread Basket of India”! It then makes no sense that successive Governments have done little to secure the agricultural position so vital to maintaining self-sufficiency of the country in terms of grain.

The fact is that India is becoming extremely vulnerable in sustaining its food-grain production to feed its ever-growing population.

You may be thinking that being Punjabi, KDOP is naturally more inclined to feature Punjab as a major contributor to the grain stock of the country. Fortunately, we at KDOP, although being proud Punjabis also have the facts to back up our comments! Mira Kamdar, a Senior Fellow at the World Policy Institute, New York, from 1992 to 2006, commented on Punjab’s role in Indian agriculture as follows:

“With just 1.5 per cent of India’s land area, Punjab produces 20 per cent of the country’s wheat and 12 per cent of its rice. It provides 60 per cent of the Central government’s reserve stocks of wheat and 40 per cent of its reserves of rice, the country’s buffer against starvation. Punjab’s amazing productivity made it possible for India to feed most of its growing population that tripled from 350 million when the country became independent in 1947 to more than 1.2 billion people today.”

She further wrote, “In 2001, India even began to export grain, though critics claim this impressive achievement was gained at the expense of India’s poor. Only two years later, in 2003, India had to reverse the funnel and import grain, something it had not done in decades. Every year since then India has imported more and more of its food.”

This is not to be taken lightly and indicates that India is slipping down the “food security” ladder which will have serious consequences in the near future.

Recently, Dr Swaminathan stated, “We are on the verge of a disaster. We will be in serious difficulty if food productivity is not increased and farming is neglected.” A food crisis would be inevitable if agriculture and farmers were ignored.

Is India’s food security vulnerable?

In short, yes absolutely. When a nation goes from being in a position to export to one of import it does not take a genius to realise that agriculture needs to focussed upon and supported. Surely we do not want to become an importing nation relying on others to feed out own people. India is a great nation but it would be shameful if we are no longer able to be self-sufficiency. R W Emerson commented on self-sufficiency stating that it gives one the freedom to discover one’s true self and attain true independence. We believe that the ‘I’ in India stands for Independent in its truest and purest form.

So what needs to be done?

Greater investment in agricultural development is necessary. Grain production needs to be increased but this will be an extremely difficult task if we do not increase our agricultural Research & Development and simultaneously take appropriate measures to reduce population growth. The agricultural community needs to work with all of its associates and that includes Government bodies to implement these areas into working policies for the betterment of India as a whole.

By Satinder Singh
KDOP