Nemesis of Punjab

The Punjab government will soon swing into action for procurement and subsequent storage of the paddy crop in the state. The centre government has received some appreciation for a record increase of Rs 200 per quintal in the MSP of paddy. The government’s price advisory body CACP had calculated the production cost of paddy at Rs 1,166 per quintal, and the MSP of common grade paddy has been by Rs. 200 to Rs.1750 per quintal for Kharif 2018-2019. The reckoning year of elections is close and this will serve as one added brownie point in the report card of the ruling party. But the overall health of Punjab, in the context of its ecological, financial and social indices, has declined alarmingly over the last five decades, raising questions as to whether raising MSPs for crops holds much significance at all for a state reaching a nadir.

Let us trace the recent history of the state. New high-yielding varieties of crops were introduced in the early sixties when the country was grappling with a massive food shortage. The Punjab farmer was quick to adopt new agricultural technologies consisting of hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and agro-machinery, setting agricultural output on a new growth trajectory and replenishing the national food coffers. But the green revolution, which accorded Punjab the distinction of being called the granary of India, came at a crippling cost, which would be extracted from the state in the years to follow.

 MSP offered by the government and high-yield varieties brought about significant changes in the cropping pattern, shifting the cropped area for paddy from 6.8 per cent in 1970 to 33 per cent in 2000. (Statistical Abstracts of Punjab, 2001). This was at the cost of other traditionally grown crops of mustard, groundnut, jowar, bajra, rapeseed, maize, sugarcane etc. The production of wheat between 1960 and 2000 went up by more than nine times, and the production of rice between 1970 and 2000 has gone up by more than thirteen times. Soon, the wheat and paddy cycle came to be the most favoured by the farmers, which brought new problems. Growing the same crops over and over again, without any fallow time led to a sharp deterioration in the soil productivity, leading to greater use of chemical fertilizers to keep up productivity. By 1985, Punjab was using 112.68 tons of fertilizer per lakh hectare against a national average of 41.00 per lakh hectare. (CMIE, 1993)

 Introduction of new crops and varieties also means combating new diseases and pests, and by 1985, Punjab was using the highest amount of pesticides in the country at the rate of 423.85 tons per lakh hectare against a national average of 68.78 tons per lac hectare. (CMIE, 1993)

By the year 1990, the giddy euphoria of the green revolution was over; the momentum of agricultural growth in Punjab had reached a plateau. The dark decade of religious militancy had taken its toll. Post 1984, the Punjab government had extended a high number of medium and long-term loans and credit subsidies, many of which would turn into bad loans and turn into nooses around many an unfortunate neck.

The climatic conditions of Punjab were not suitable for growing a water-guzzling crop like paddy.  In 1985, Punjab had dug up 10,756 tube wells per lakh hectare against a national average of 3,753 tube wells per lakh hectare and has approximately 1.4 million now. (CMIE, 1993) Soon after, tube wells need to be replaced by submersible tube wells to delve deeper into a depleting water table, placing an additional financial burden on the farmer. The post-sixties mechanization of the farming process had already made it increasingly difficult for the small farmer, who own under two hectares of land and form 45 per cent of the farming community, to sustain the viability of small farms. He did not have resources for a submersible pump and was deprived of his right to underground water, which was sucked out by the submersible pumps of the neighbouring big farmer. The government did little beyond extending subsidized electricity. As the other states of the country became increasingly self-reliant in food grain needs, wheat stocks started rotting in government godowns, waiting to be accepted by a reluctant FCI. Rice shipments were rejected. This has led, over the years, to an accumulative and spiralling financial loss for the Punjab government.

The present situation is grim. Seventy-five per cent of the total development blocks in Punjab have been declared “dark blocks” due to over-exploitation of water. Parts of south west Punjab are on the way to becoming arid.  The indiscriminate and persistent toxification of the ecosystem by agrochemicals has taken its toll. The soil, water and the food chain in the state have been contaminated with heavy metals, arsenic, iron, phosphates, nitrates, fluoride and salinity much beyond permitted limits.  Muktsar, Mansa and Bathinda districts from the Malwa region of Punjab have shown an alarming number of cancer incidences. Serious mental health problems have driven a large number of farmers to suicide and substance abuse. Physical and mental health challenges result in reduced productivity and financial resources and adversely affect all indices of development and well-being.

The nexus of the political and bureaucratic establishment has chosen to ignore these deepening agrarian and socio-economic crises because most of them are indirect or direct beneficiaries from the rice mills, grain procurement commission agencies, transport agencies and private storage godowns in the state. They have neglected to address the core issues of an honest agricultural policy with long-term interests of the state and the small farmer in view, development of agro-industry, alternate avenues of employment of the educated youth and safeguards for the states depleting natural resources. The centre doesn’t need Punjab’s grain anymore and could not care less. Political cronyism, absolute short-sightedness in favour of immediate greed and morally corrupt leadership has brought Punjab to the brink of disaster. The state that fed the country and was home to many a gallant soldier and decorated sportsperson stands bereft of all glory; contaminated, ill, addicted, poor and facing a continuous exodus of its youth to foreign lands.