Don’t Kill the Farm

In India, all said and done, despite steady growth in industrial and infrastructure projects and in the services sector, including the software industry in recent years, the Indian economy essentially remains agricultural-based, which is a strong, sustainable and stabilising factor. This is likely to remain so for all time to come.

However, India’s agricultural land decreased from approximately 189.6 million hectares in 1950–51 to approximately 181.9 million hectares in 2014–15. This trend continues, with the area of agricultural land steadily declining in the country.

Converting agricultural land for other purposes such as infrastructure, industrial or housing projects amounts to a counter-productive policy approach that would inevitably have severe short-term and long-term adverse implications. It is necessary to keep in view that once agricultural land is converted to build roads, airports or factories, it becomes unsuitable for agricultural operations. In other words, converting agricultural land for other purposes is irreversible, which would result in the permanent loss of land for agricultural operations and, in the process, throw a large number of agricultural workers out of work, uprooting the economies of millions of families.

Those arguing in favour of converting agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes, to some extent and selectively, are of the view that the contribution of the agricultural sector is less than that of a few other sectors to the growth of the national economy.

The contribution of the agricultural sector to India’s GDP is 17.94%, as against 54.93% for the services sector, 27.13% for the industrial sector, 8.75% for the construction sector, and so on.

Those who advance such arguments for converting agricultural land appear to ignore the significance of the agricultural sector and do not seem to adequately appreciate its importance for national welfare and social stability. They certainly lack a holistic view.

In any country, food security and self-sufficiency in food production are extremely vital to ensure social stability.

This is particularly so in a highly populous country like India, which has the highest population level and highest population density among all countries in the world. Though the Indian economy is progressing at a reasonable pace, a substantial percentage of the population still remains below the poverty line or at the marginal level of the poverty line. There is a necessity to keep the entire population reasonably well fed, even if a section of the population cannot afford to pay for their day-to-day food requirements. Therefore, governments in India are providing free rice, wheat and several other forms of subsidy to sustain the families of people at the marginal level of the national economy. This arrangement has to continue for several years to come, until India attains a much higher level of economic standards.

Since agricultural production depends on seasonal factors and excessive rain or drought may affect production severely at any time, the precise quantity of agricultural production for future periods is difficult to estimate clearly, unlike factory outputs. Therefore, maintaining a buffer stock of food products is also vitally necessary to meet requirements during any lean period in the agricultural sector.

Historically, it has been seen repeatedly in different parts of the world that shortage of food products and consequent hardship for the people are prime contributing factors for riots, unrest and violence in society.

In other words, this implies that agricultural production and agricultural land should not be sacrificed under any circumstances. Converting agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes is a calculated risk that India cannot afford.

In recent years, the production of rice, wheat, sugar and a few other agricultural crops has reached a high level, leading to a surplus production in the country, with warehouses remaining full. However, it should be kept in view that in some recent years agricultural products like sugar have had to be imported due to lower production caused by seasonal factors.

The warehousing capacity in India for food products is still not adequate and, on several occasions, agricultural products like rice have been spoiled due to exposure to rain and sun without cover. What is urgently required is that more warehousing capacity should be built to good standards to keep the buffer stock in proper conditions.

Such conditions have given a false sense that Indian agricultural products like rice and wheat are produced in excess of national requirements, leading to exports to some extent. This scenario has prompted those who advocate converting agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes to use this as justification for their stand. Such a view does not take into consideration that agricultural production can vary from year to year due to factors beyond one’s control.

Every time the government proposes to acquire agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes, there have been large-scale protests from the farming community. Such moves remain unpopular decisions, causing huge uncertainty and anxiety for thousands of agricultural workers across India.

For example, the proposal to acquire around 3,500 acres of agricultural land for constructing a new airport near Chennai has evoked agitation and protest from farmers. Similarly, the move to acquire 1,000 acres of land near Hosur in Tamil Nadu for setting up an industrial estate has also been opposed by farmers. There are many other instances of forced acquisition of agricultural land across India. The government tries to convince farmers by offering compensation or rehabilitation measures. The farmers are not impressed, as they have skills only in agricultural operations and such compensation would not provide them with lifelong sustenance.

India has around 63.85 million hectares of wasteland, which remains totally unutilised and is spread across the country.

Area of wasteland  in India by classification;

It is certainly possible to utilise such a massive area of wasteland for setting up industrial or other projects, appropriate to the suitability of the land for the particular end-use. The government does not seem to have considered such an approach at all. No meaningful initiative has been put forth to retrieve such wasteland and utilise it for productive purposes. On the other hand, the government is resorting to the easier option of acquiring productive agricultural land.

With the very high population density of India, it is certainly possible and necessary to distribute the population, which can be done by utilising wasteland through appropriate innovative forward planning.

There are many industrial units, educational institutions, etc., that have large areas of surplus land remaining unutilised for several decades.

Further, there are many sick industries across India where industrial sheds and land remain unutilised for several years.

It appears that the government has not carried out a careful survey of such surplus land available across the country, which may run to a few million hectares. Not utilising such land for industrial or infrastructure projects but resorting to the acquisition of agricultural land cannot be justified at all.

India’s population is now estimated to be around 1.45 billion. While it is reported that the fertility rate in India is reducing and smaller families are being brought up, the population is still increasing at around 1.5% every year and it is estimated that the Indian population will reach 1.8 billion by 2050, and it may happen even before this period.

At present, joblessness in India is repeatedly pointed out as a crucial issue that needs to be tackled on a priority basis.

Among the Indian population, around 30% are reported to be youth in the age group of 20 to 29. Keeping the youth adequately employed is an urgent national necessity to avoid social unrest. The Government of India is finding it hard to achieve this target.

It is reported that around 43% of the working-age population in India is engaged in the agricultural sector. With the mechanisation of farming activities, labour involved in agricultural operations is already showing a marginal decline. With the conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes, unemployment in India would further intensify. Certainly, non-agricultural activity such as industrial and infrastructure projects cannot generate employment similar to what agricultural operations can provide.

It appears that such a decline in job opportunities due to conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes has not been carefully considered by policy planners in India.

Justifications advanced for conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes—such as the claim that only a negligible percentage of agricultural land is being acquired, or the so-called surplus food stock production in the country, or the greater contribution of non-agricultural activity compared to agricultural activity—are all unacceptable.

Those who advance such arguments should undertake a more responsible and holistic analysis. The fact that the Indian economy is bound to remain agro-based to a large extent must be clearly understood. Under no circumstances should agricultural land be converted to non-agricultural purposes, as such a move is wrong in both letter and spirit.

The discussion on conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes should not be based on statistics-oriented cost-benefit analysis by desk-based researchers.