It is time for second Green Revolution

After a gap of a few weeks I venture into my nearest grocery cum vegetable shop. Looking at the price tags of various pulses and vegetables, I am terrified. I remember days when I used to buy a kilo of chilli for Rs eight, now it costs me around Rs 150. The pulses are all above Rs 100, not to mention about onions and potatoes. I limit the number of items as well as quantity of my purchase and still end up checking the bill twice and thrice in disbelief. They have not made a hole in my pocket, but have actually burnt it.

The food inflation is at 10-year high and they say it is due to supply shortage. The cultivable lands have shrunken and degraded due to overuse of pesticides and fertilizers, water bodies are mismanaged and groundwater depleted and the effects of climate change too is hampering crop, but what about the wastage and defective food supply system.

I was talking to a member of the Cold Chain task force set up the Union government, the other day. He tells me the horticulture wastage in the country is 30 per cent when the permissible limit in major economies is five per cent. What does that mean, when the government cries about supply shortage we are wasting 30 per cent of the fruits and vegetables at the farm, while transporting, at the warehouses and the wholesale as well as retail shops. What about wheat and other cereals that lay rotten at farms and warehouses?

When I pay 10-year-high prices for the food materials I buy, how much has the revenue of the farmer gone up. Logically thinking, that too should be highest in 10 years. On the other hand you hear about farmer suicides and demands for crop loan waiver. So the trade is still in the hands of the middlemen.

There have been some initiatives like ‘farmers market’ in some states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The farmers bring their produce to the market and sell themselves. A fair price for his produce not only motivates the farmer to increase his production, but checks other wholesalers and retailers in the town from charging exorbitantly. But it is not a viable option when the produce is large and where the farmer has to travel hundreds of kilometers to the nearest town.

For a country like India, where 40 per cent of farmers wish to quit cultivation due to unprofitability, ensuring them technology, good price, marketing facilities and adequate funding should be the priority of the government. Why government alone, why cannot the private sector explore ways to make agriculture profitable?

Better education about newer and eco-friendly technologies, accessibility to funding channels, effective management of the produce to minimize wastage and better profits to the farmer ---- when is the second Green Revolution coming?