FOCUS ORISSASanjay Kumar Bissoyi
Orissa’s agrarian structure is dominated by small and marginal farmers whose capacity to invest is limited
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Theodore W. Schultz, Noble Laureate in Economics in 1979, stated in his acceptance speech: “Most of the world’s poor people earn their living from agriculture. So, if we knew the economics of agriculture, we would know much of the economics of being poor.”
Agriculture is the single largest economic prop and livelihood system in Orissa, a predominantly agrarian state with 65 per cent of its workforce concentrating their efforts on agriculture. Orissa is endowed with rich natural resources. The four physiographic zones namely the northern plateau, the central table land, the eastern ghat region and the coastal plains are subdivided into 10 agro- climate zones providing unlimited scope for agriculture and crop variety.
Though agriculture forms the state’s mainstream economy, Orissa does not perform impressively in most indicators of agricultural development. The land-person ratio worsened over time with an increase in population. The per capita availability of cultivated land was 0.39ha in 1950-51 and it came down to 0.13 ha in 2013-14.
The major constraints to agricultural growth in Orissa are well-known. Eighty per cent of its population lives in more than 50,000 villages. A major portion of the land is covered by red soil which is of low-to-medium fertility. While the uncertain monsoons cause floods in the deltaic region, scarcity of precipitation in the western region leads to drought spells.
Orissa’s agrarian structure is dominated by small and marginal farmers whose capacity to invest is limited. So, the state is not able to produce a surplus of food grains. It imports vegetables, oil, sugar and most of the industrial and manufacturing products. The proximity to Kolkota, which has a relatively more developed manufacturing base and established trading establishments, makes the state a good dumping ground for products.
Above all, the state has a large concentration of tribal population. Tribals are economically the weakest link in the society. The panacea for Orissa’s ills and the problems besetting its agriculture sector lies in an acceleration of agricultural growth. Public investment in agriculture sector needs to be stepped up. Keeping in view the importance of agriculture in creating employment, generating income and ensuring self-sufficiency in food production, the share of agriculture in the total plan outlay needs to be enhanced.
Emphasis should be laid on providing appropriate rural infrastructures and services. Irrigation facilities should be extended to dry-land and rain-fed areas. Instead of constructing big dams and reservoirs with canal systems, ground water development should be encouraged by providing subsidized credit for construction of wells and tube wells as also for purchase of diesel or electric pump sets.
Other infrastructural facilities like rural roads, transport, power supply, marketing and storage, call for major improvements. Agricultural credit should be provided to the needy farmers. This must be provided at the right time and as per requirements. For better recovery of crop loans, group lending may be encouraged. Effective extension services should be provided to farmers.
Agricultural inputs like quality seeds, fertilizers and pesticides should be made available to farmers on time and as per requirement, at reasonable prices. It is most important that all the inputs are supplied to farmers under one roof and through one window so that transaction costs can be minimised.
Farmers should be motivated to undertake joint farming and they should be encouraged to form user groups for efficient, equitable and sustainable management of irrigation system and watershed. Micro-financing through formation of self-help groups should get due importance. Coverage of crop insurance should be extended and instead of the ‘defined area’ approach, individualistic assessment of crop loss should be made and indemnities paid accordingly. Land leasing should be legalised with proper regulation of its terms and conditions for achieving efficient production and equitable distribution of production gains.
With a push to the agriculture sector, Orissa’s economy can become sure-footed on a long-term basis and emerge as a front-runner at the national level.