FIRST IT WAS the Prime Minister and now it is the Finance Minister's turn to project agriculture, besides infrastructure, as the thrust area for rapid economic growth. A growth rate of 3.5-4 per cent is possible in agriculture, according to Mr P. Chidambaram, who wants a step up in public investment in irrigation to beat the country's monsoon dependence and to allow corporate sector into post-harvest activities. It is with a sense of déjà vu that one hears these motherhood statements from policymakers. Is it not time to ask politicians to stop making prescriptions and come up with an integrated policy package for time-bound implementation, taking into account the various resources required — financial, technological and human?

It has to be admitted with a sense of both shame and remorse that for over five decades policy-makers have largely ignored the crying needs of the farm sector that provides livelihood to nearly two-thirds of the population. `If agriculture survives, India survives' should have become the leitmotif of the march towards economic emancipation after Independence; but that was not to be. Valuable time may have been squandered in platitudes; but it is not too late yet for concrete action. Issues that stymie agricultural growth are known: Fragmented landholding, inadequate irrigation facilities, low level of input usage, antiquated agronomic practices, unsteady output and suspect quality, lack of rural infrastructure, marketing restrictions, tardy flow of market information to primary producers... Indeed a long list. Dependence on monsoon and concomitant uncertainties make the risk-reward profile unfavourable for farmers.

Mr Chidambaram is right in identifying water as the most critical input for agriculture. Scientific water management would not only help reduce year-to-year output variations but also conserve what is likely to get increasingly scarce. The Centre does have schemes such as the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme, the Command Area Development and Water Management Programme and, now, repair, renovation and restoration of water bodies. But the tangible progress made is unclear. Implementation of these schemes will have to be truly accelerated; progress will be tardy without the cooperation and participation of the State governments. The fall in public investment in agriculture and the declining share of investment in agriculture as a percentage of GDP have been matters of concerns since the early-1990s. Incipient signs of a trend reversal are visible and welcome, but there is still a long way to go. This sector can attract greater private interest when public investment is stepped up considerably.

In sum, considerable responsibility lies with the Centre and the State governments. Both must get cracking in concert, with specific action plans if there is really be 4 per cent farm growth in the coming years. The policy environment for the corporate sector to establish backward linkages needs to be strengthened. Contract farming in cotton is catching up, as also in horticulture. The private sector can replicate this in other crops such as oilseeds and even cereals. Besides creating rural infrastructure, the Government must ensure enforceability of contracts.

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