Thomas for private help in foodgrain procurement

Private sector too cannot escape being blamed as they have tendency of not purchasing wheat and rice when supplies are abundant

Union Food Minister K V Thomas on Wednesday said a mechanism was being worked out with major industry associations to ensure that the participation of the private sector was enhanced in foodgrain procurement operations, as the government prepared for a surge in 2013-14 annual wheat procurement by almost 6-8 million tonnes as compared to last year.

“In 2013-14, the government is expected to procure around 44-46 million tonnes of wheat, which till last year, was around 38 million tonnes, while the requirement is just around 26-27 million tonnes. Hence, it is the government which has become the biggest buyer of foodgrains, as private companies are absent since the last two years from major wheat and rice producing regions, which has to change,” Thomas told reporters on the sidelines of a discussion on ‘India’s food security and the Second Green Revolution’. The discussion was part of the annual general meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry.  

Thomas said the private sector, too, could not escape being blamed, as it had a tendency of not purchasing wheat and rice when supplies were abundant and then want the government to liquidate its inventories at cheap rates. “Private traders, too, have some social commitment and you cannot purchase foodgrainis at  below Minimum Support Price (MSP) rates,” Thomas said.

“This is a scary situation and we cannot allow nationalisation of the country's foodgrain trade, as we have stopped proper market operations and driven away private traders from India's grain trade,” said Chairman of Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Ashok Gulati.  “The proposed National Food Security Bill seeks to achieve equity concerns through a price policy, which I as an economist feel is a major lacunae,” he said.

Agriculture secretary, Ashish Bahuguna, who also participated in the discussion, said, “Our farmers have ensured that India would remain a food-secure nation for some time to come...”, but that has not guaranteed income security to farmers. Average income from agriculture is much less than average income from non-agriculture sources. Therefore, we have to reduce the burden on farming and facilitate the migration of more and more people from rural areas or create adequate opportunities in the non-farm sector,” Bahuguna said.

He also streesed on the need for crop diversification and said the newly-announced National Mission on Crop Diversification would encourage farmers to switch to crops like maize and mustard in traditional wheat-growing areas. “Cash transfer would also form part of the Mission,” Bahuguna said.

Ajay Jakhar, chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, blamed the government's policies for being the greatest hindrance to crop diversification and higher farmers’ income. “Why doesn’t the government make farmers self-sufficient, so that the poor ones do not require a social security net like the National Food Security Bill?” Jakhar asked.

Criticising Ashok Gulati's contention that Minimum Support Price (MSP) cannot be just decided by the cost of production, and the demand side of the produce will also have to be looked into, Jakhar said that while it is accepted that the cost of production alone cannot be the sole criteria for determining the MSP, it must also be understood that the production cost of farmers has increased manifold in the last few years.”