Former Union agriculture secretary SIRAJ HUSSAINwas one of the key officers who prepared the agriculture sector roadmap and drew up most of the agriculture schemes announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his first term. Hussain also headed the Food Corporation of India, a statutory body under the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, which is engaged in the procurement and distribution of the Rabi and Kharif crops in India.

Prior to assuming the Union agriculture secretary’s post, he was secretary in the food processing ministry. The 1979 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer had earlier served in UP in various capacities including as chief of UPSIDC (Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation), registrar of cooperative societies and as secretary to the UP chief minister.

In 2016, Hussain was awarded honorary doctorate by Acharya NG Ranga Agriculture University. Since his superannuation in January 2016, he has been working with the ICRIER (Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations) as a visiting senior fellow. He has also been engaged in research on various aspects of Indian agriculture and food processing and has authored several research papers on agriculture and the rural economy.

In an interview with VIJAY THAKUR, Hussain explored a gamut of issues relating to farmers and the agriculture sector in the country.

Excerpts: Q.The coronavirus lockdown affected all sectors in the country.How do you see the slump in agriculture and its allied sectors thereafter?

A. The situation was very bad during the initial days of lockdown. Farmers were beaten up at some places. In some places, it was reported that they were not allowed to transport their produce to market. It caused huge loss to farmers engaged in producing fruits and vegetables. However, the government then took prompt action and exempted agriculture operations from the lockdown. As a result, we had record high procurements of wheat. Farmers did not suffer much in the procurement process. Wheat growers got MSP but for channa and cotton crop farmers the procurement was below the MSP. In a nutshell, procurement this time was better than in previous years.

Q. It means there was little impact of lockdown and subsequent market slump on agriculture and its allied sectors?

A. No. It had a real impact on two main sectors — poultry and milk sectors. Their producers were very badly hit. The most-affected were the poultry farmers. The price of a live bird, which was around Rs 85 per kg in February- March came down to Rs 35. So was the situation of milk producers. The bulk milk buyers, who account for nearly 25 per cent of the milk consumption, did not buy to that level. According to a rough estimate, the price of bulk milk price went down by Rs 10 a litre. That is why milk producers are agitating in Maharashtra.

Q. Will Covid-19 have an impact on the Kharif production as well?

A. Thankfully, this time Kharif operations have taken place in time because of good and timely monsoon. The availability of labour has increased in the farming sector as well because of the migration (of workers from urban to rural areas). Direct seeding of rice has seen an impressive increase in Punjab. The present scenario indicates that we would have record production of Kharif crops this year.

Q. Does it mean everything is going to be fine in the agriculture sector?

A. No, The problem is probably still there. We may have the problem of plenty this time. The record high Kharif production is good, but the purchasing power of people has gone down due to lockdown and slump in the market. The decrease in income and increasing unemployment due to Covid-19 may not generate as much demand as we had expected. Migrant labour who had gone back home are facing a tough time. They are earning less than what they used to earn in urban areas. I think it would be very difficult for farmers to get a good price for their produce.

Q.But then we have export options?

A. As regards the export of our Kharif crops, the major export crops are rice and cotton. The export of cotton we cannot predict, as most of our cotton goes to China. Considering the present scenario, it is difficult to comment on its export. Now coming to rice, unfortunately, Indian rice export has also been declining in the international market. In case of rice, our major importer country is Iran. It would thankfully continue to import from India. Look at the export figures: The export of non-basmati Indian rice has come down from USD 3 billion to 2 billion – a 33 per cent decline. Similar is the situation of basmati rice – it came down from USD 4.7 billion to USD 4.3 billion. Globally also, the purchasing power of people has gone down. And that is our worry. I still do not think the global demand for food products would go down that much. I am not sure if we will get a better price in the international market.

Q.What is your hope from the agriculture sector? What more do you think should the government do to help farmers?

A. Government has taken a few good steps. They have opened up the market. Now a farmer can sell their produce anywhere in the country through E-NAM. It has allowed movement of agriculture produce anywhere in the country. If all goes well, it would bring very good results in future. New players will enter the market, would give a better price to the farmers. Then e-commerce companies are also coming up. They would also procure directly from the farmers. The big question still remains – the private players would come only when there is demand in the market. We also have some hope from the infrastructure AgriFunds. It may have some impact. I think government lacks long-term plans for the agriculture funds.

Q. The Modi government had announced the plan to double farmers’ income by 2022. Do you think the government would be able to meet this target in the wake of the Covid pandemic?

A. I have repeated it several times that nominally income of farmers doubles every six years. This is data from NSSO surveys. In 2002-03, the average monthly income of farmers stood at Rs 2,115. It grew to Rs 6,426 by 2012-13, an annual increase of 11.75 per cent. Which means regardless of massive government efforts, the farmers’ nominal income has already been growing at the rate targeted set by the Modi government. But doubling of their real income would take 16 years. And if the government is talking about doubling their real income, it needs to ensure 20 per cent increase every year in farmers’ income. This is a real challenge. Some good steps have been taken – yet I don’t see any major longterm strategy of the Modi government in this regard.