Some thoughts on development

For The Tribune | April 13, 1988

It is an old truth now that the Punjab is the country's leading producer of surplus foodgrains. Ever since the start of the Green Revolution in 1967, the Punjab has continued to contribute a major part of the procurement by the Food Corporation of India. Over the period 1985-87, the State was responsible for almost 50% of the rice and 60% of the wheat given to the Central Pool. In the 1987-88 rice procurement, inspite of the drought, the State has contributed 3.4 million tonnes to the central buffer while the rest of the country together is way behind this figure. In the wheat harvest about to come to the mandis, the State again hopes to contribute between 5-6 million tonnes.

As is to be expected, in the special national effort to expand foodgrains over the next two years, the Punjab will play a leading part, and has accepted the targets set in the Prime Minister's meeting last month. Recently, a national call has been given for a major affort in oil seeds, in order to prevent the drain of Rs 1400 crores of foreign exchange to import 2 million tonnes of edible oil. Over the last year and half, the message has been taken to every Punjab farmer to go all out to produce mustard, gobhi sarson and sunflower. The result is visible in the yellowing of the Punjabi country side to which Mr. San Pitroda is himself a witness. The targets of oilseeds for 1990 have already been exceeded. As usual, we will surprise everybody in oilseeds production in the coming years. As in the case of foodgrains, our request is a simple one. Give us a reasonable price and ensure the prompt lifting of the produce. If the Government of India holds to worthwhile and long term commitment, the Punjab farmer will play a major role in filling the edible oil gap.

While the State is proud of its role in foodgrain production, it is also concerned at the imbalance in its agriculture. The current situation has turned the State into almost entirely a grain producer State. The need is for balanced agriculture. Rice is being produced in areas which should be doing other crops. This is doing long term damage to the soil and ecology. The limited water resource of the State also impels us to look to less water intensive crops.

Two years ago, Government appointed en Expert Committee under Dr. Johl, to look for the diversification of Punjab Agriculture. The Report documented the drop in the net income from wheat from Rs. 1004 per hectare in 1972-73 to Rs. 666 per hectare in 1982-83. The Committee recommended a major effort to transfer some area to horticulture, forestry, dairy, oilseeds and sugarcane. This will be done but not at the cost of production of foodgrains. The wheat and rice will continue to expand by ensuring higher productivity. At present, even in the best district of Ludhiana, the yields of wheat and rice are less than four tonnes per hectares. In other Districts, for no valid reasons the performance is much poorer. It is our endeavour to lift the entire State to atleast the production level of Ludhiana, which benefits from the presence of the Punjab Agricultural University. This needs more intensive and sophisticated efforts. Side by side, our effort towards diversification has begun and will continue with our usual energy. A major thrust area is Cooperative Sugar Mills. Today, we have 11 working Mills, crushing 14,000 tonnes of cane per day. We are in the process of setting up 4 new Mills of 2500 tonnes each and expanding all the old ones and by 1990-91, should be crushing about 32,000 sonnes a day. In Mr. Kairon's time, when the first Cooperative Sugar Mill was set up, the recovery barely touched 8%. The University has worked hard to develop new varieties of sugarcane and today, recovery is invariably more than 10% and even touching 11. The Mills are in profit. The Sugar Federation is organised and geared to expansion, and it is the Government of India's impression, that the Punjab now ranks in the top three in the country. We are disappointed, and must in the near future, have the first place in the cane industry as we have in the foodgrains.

Dairy offers immense possibilities to us. We have irrigated land for fodder. We have the best buffaloes in the world, and we have expanded by intensive extension work, the exotic cattle breed population in the State, consisting of Holestein, Frusion, Swiss, Brown etc. As is the case of grains, to us, the cooperative dairy industry, is a major commercial possibility. The Punjab Milkfed has a turn over of 80 crores, a milk plant in every district, and impressive processing facilities. The 10,000 villages of the Punjab already have about 5000 milk cooperative societies with almost 3 lac members. The network of cooperatives and processing units, is being spread rapidly. The elected Chairman of the Milk Unions have been sent to Denmark to see and challenge the world's best dairy producers. While we admire Amul we shall leave it far behind in the next five years.

Last week, the State's second Annual Animal Show was held at Amritsar, at a cost of Rs. 12 lacs. In order to encourage the best dairy farmers and breeders, prizes worth 3 lacs were distribuled. Individual First Prizes were as much as 10,000 each, unknown in the country. Massive Cups were given along with the money, to send the message and enthusiasm to every Punjab village. The Punjab Cattle Show could proudly be compared with the Annual Royal Cattle Shows held in England. We are doing this in order to motivate and encourage the dairy farmers of Punjab. We have no doubt that the Punjab Milkfed, in the next five years, will be the second giant on the western horizon of the country, after the Punjab Markfed.

The country's rapidly rising urban population demands adequate milk supply. Even today, the Delhiwalas morning cup of tea is based on a supply of 70,000 litres per day, of fresh milk by the Punjab Milkfed. We continue to export to the Army in the Kashmir, and even to the neighbouring States. However, we do this even at a loss to us, since the best business is in the processing of milk. We continue to argue for a reasonable price. One basic point must be taken note of. The rapid urbanization will need more and more milk. The farmer has to be enlisted to produce it. The enthusiasm can only be created by offering him a worthwhile price. If this is not done, dairy farmers all over the country, may be discouraged, and we may have difficulties in finding the milk we need. We are looking to the sugar mills and the dairy plants to enhance the meagre employment opportunities in the State.

Horticulture is another possibility being pursued. The southern Punjab has the kind of ciferus gardens, which one sees only in California. In Amritsar and the Districts in the North, there are major plantations of stone-pear. The Hoshiarpur Hills are well known for mango. The area under fruit has almost trippled since 1930 and is rising. Here too, our concern is with the marketing and processing of the rapidly expanding crop. If this is not organised in time there will be a crisis. This is why the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation is pressing for the Pepsi Unit whose main focus is the lifting and processing of 100,000 tonnes of fruit annually, which will constitute 25% of our total crop. From a zero level, this will be a major lift and its success an encouragement for many other Units, that we need in this area.

The Punjab has the distinction of having one of the strongest and most democratic cooperative structure in the country-side. The major achievements of the State, in the Green Revolution, are based on the work of the State's Cooperative Banks, and the Markfed, which has an annual turn over of 1200 ctores. The Cooperative Federations for Milk, Cotton Spinning and Sugar, plays major role in the State's rural economy. It should be of interest to people in the rest of the country, that we have recently hald elections to more than 5000) cooperative socities of every variety, from Banks and Sugar Mills to village milk societies, and put elected Directors in command. I am aware that, in most States which claim a more normal situation than the Punjab, the cooperatives continue to be burdened with nominated official managements. The Punjab cooperatives also have the distinction of maintaining an effective credit system with the best recoveries of loans in the country even though, "the times are out of joint."

While we continue to express satisfaction over the Punjab's agricultural effort, the State's concern is with the lack of industry and, therefore, the lack of jobs. It has been estimated in a recent article in the Economic Times, that the industrial growth rate of Punjab which was 8.8 over 1971-81 has now fallen to 3.7% over 1981-86. The State has no major industry and very little of processing even in agro based units. The result is an economic squeeze, with falling holdings in agriculture, and inability to offer enough jobs off the land, particularly to the new educated. It is not widely known that the Punjab industry's contribution to the State's income is barely 13%, which is less than even the national average The question then arises why is it that the Punjabi, who is known for a spirit of enterprise and has demonstrated it in agriculture, should perform so poorly in industry ? The answer lies not in the fault of Punjabi enterprise but elsewhere. Another stark index of imbalances in Punjab's development, is the fact that to my knowledge, no Punjab town has a Lift, because none has a worthwhile high-rise building, something one sees all over the country, in a rapidly rising and impressive urbanisation, and growing structure of trade and service industry. There is thus, an obvious imbalance between agriculture, industry and services, and there is a crying need to balance those in order to create enough jobs for those who can no longer be sustained on the land. This is the problem, above all others, which concerns us and which we must work to resolve.

by M.S. Gill, IAS

Financial Commissioner, Development, Punjab