Editorial 1 : The path runs through fields
Context: Role of agriculture in achieving the dream of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Struggle with poverty and hunger
- Domestic peace and prosperity come primarily from freedom from hunger and poverty.
- In 1947 more than 75% of India’s population was shackled by extreme poverty.
- In 1943, 1.5-3 million people died of starvation.
- Population exploded in 1960s and the major challenge was to feed the people.
- The situation was saved by introduction of new technologies in agriculture — India witnessed the Green Revolution in the late 1960s.
Comparison with China
- China learnt its lessons much earlier than India, and ushered in economic reforms in 1978, starting with agriculture.
- China’s farm sector produces almost double the value of produce than that of India even though it has less area under cultivation.
- Chinese government gives the country’s farmers market price support (producer support estimate or PSE), which is even higher than in the OECD countries. In contrast, India’s PSE is negative.
Agriculture growth in India
- India’s agri-growth has been moderate in relative terms.
- In the 20 years from 2004-05 to 2023-24, agri-GDP increased by 3.6% on average.
- This is reasonably good to feed the nation, especially because population growth has been coming down over the years — it’s below 1% per annum today.
- India is also a net exporter of agri-produce.
- While the exports are diversified — rice, marine products, spices and buffalo meat — India’s imports are primarily that of edible oils and pulses.
Reducing the Imports
- The government has been harping on achieving self-sufficiency in pulses.
- If the policies do not change for the better, imports may go up to 8-10 million tonnes by 2030 because the demand is likely to touch 40 million tonnes.
- Pulses are less water- and fertiliser-consuming. If governments reward farmers who grow pulses with the kind of subsidies they provide rice cultivators — in power and fertiliser — the country will be self-sufficient in pulses and people will eat healthier diets.
- The change will also have a positive effect on soil, water, and environment (GHG emissions).
Way Forward: Food Security to Nutrition Security
- Agri-R&D, irrigation, opening up land-lease markets, building value chains of perishables on the lines of the Amul model are the policy measures that need to be put in place.
- This will enable India to provide food security on a sustainable basis in the face of climate change.
- There is a need to move from food security to nutrition security as roughly 35% of children in India below the age of five are stunted.
Editorial 2 : Stakes are high
Context: Political turmoil in Bangladesh and India-Bangladesh relations
Focusing on the positives
- India and Bangladesh are bound by geography and have a resilient foundation for good relations laid in the past.
- In first conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief adviser to the new government in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, PM Modi reiterated “India’s support for a democratic, stable, peaceful and progressive Bangladesh” and underlined Delhi’s “commitment to supporting the people of Bangladesh through various development initiatives.”
What’s at stake?
- India-Bangladesh economic interdependence and mutual security is at stake in this situation.
- There are concerns on both sides.
- There are lingering concerns in Delhi on how the new rulers came to power in Dhaka.
- There is a deep sense of hurt in Bangladesh that India stood by the authoritarian rule of Sheikh Hasina until the very end.
- The new rulers of Bangladesh fully understand the importance of the relationship with India and are open to looking ahead rather than continuing to bicker about the past.
Navigating the troubled waters
- Both sides need to be mindful of the potential dangers to the re-engagement between Delhi and Dhaka.
- Delhi needs to explain to Hasina the dangers of indulging in political activity from Indian soil.
- Dhaka must avoid the temptation of embarking on legal processes to extradite her from India that will put Delhi in an awkward position.
Way Forward
- There are enough forces within and outside Bangladesh that are desperate to hijack the student movement for their own narrow political ends and drag the nation back into perpetual internal conflict.
- The new order in Bangladesh is fragile, Delhi must engage all political forces and institutions in the country, without prejudice, to get a deeper sense of its changing domestic dynamics and to guard against political surprises ahead.
- For now, helping Yunus succeed is India’s best insurance against continuing instability in Bangladesh.