A Mission Fulfilled?

If official reports were to be believed, India's 10-year-old oilseeds technology mission has been a stunning success. Production has more than doubled from 10.83 million tonne to 22.90 between 1985-86 and 1995-96 and productivity has jumped from 570 kg per hectare to 873 kg per hectare in the same period.

Talk to agricultural economists and the picture looks different. They say the figures are illusory. Production has increased mostly because state governments have steadily increased procurement prices to encourage farmers to put more land under oilseeds at the expense of cereal cultivation. And costs are nowhere near global standards