Protecting agricultural land
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: February 21, 2012 -

One of the major casualties of development or progress has been the agricultural sector.

With the emphasis on indutralisation and other economic activities which have shorter gestation period and which are much more profitable, agriculture is no longer an attractive profession.

This is compounded by the policy pursued by the different governments over the years which did not accord the priority the agricultural sector deserved considering the fact that around 60% of the population of this country is engaged in this profession.

Over the last decade or so the agricultural sector has been going through a crisis, the number of farmers’ suicides, most notably in the state of Maharashtra is an in-your- face manifestation of this crisis.

Coming to Manipur, though farmers here haven’t come to such a desperate situation so as to commit suicides, the agricultural sector is far from being in a healthy state. It continues to face numerous challenges from various quarters.

On the one hand, there is the need to increase the food production to meet the need of a growing population and on the other, there are various constraints which inhibit increased production.

In the coming years, the production deficit will only mount if the factors prohibiting increased production are not taken care of. Though the state is not producing enough to feed its populace, meaning the supply is less than the demand for food crops, this has not translated to higher margins for the farmers of the state.

This is because rice being brought in from outside the state is available at much lower price than the price at which the local farmers would have to sell to make a profit.

This is because the cost of production for farmers in the state is much higher. For the farmers in the state practicing agriculture is becoming more and more prohibitive.

The rains are not so plentiful as in the olden days and at the same time; many areas are yet to be covered by irrigation. And over the years, the farmers in the state have become totally depended on fertilizers or rather they have become addicted to fertilizers to such and extend that it is now unimaginable for them to grow anything without it.

But given that fertilizers are highly in demand and also the fact they it is being brought in from outside the state and given the unreliability of the supply line, tussle over fertilizer have become a regular yearly feature now with the powerful and the well connected persons trying to corner major chunk of fertilizers at times of short supply.

And even when fertilizers are available, it comes at an exorbitant amount. Given all these factors, agriculture is no longer considered a profitable or even a viable profession.

This change in perception among the framers has made them vulnerable to enticements from entrepreneurs, land developers and and others to sell off their land for purposes other than agriculture.

This trend will of course have far reaching consequences for the food security of the state. The government, needlessly to say, should act to arrest this trend by providing support and incentive to the farmers which makes it profitable for them once again.

Along with it, it can bring in certain legislations which protect cultivable land from being diverted to other purposes.