Importance of agriculture beggars no description. India lives in villages, which, among other things means that agriculture is the mainstay of Indian life. But the question is that is the Government alive to the need of maintaining the importance of agriculture or is it just repeating the rhetoric as above. It makes no sense to go on eulogizing agricultural pursuits without caring to know whether the conditions and input that are required to maintain the health of this vital economic source are in place or not.
Our agriculture is faced with a number of serious problems arising out of rapid change in life style and economic advancement. The foremost is urbanization which leads to expanding urban habitable areas and respective shrinking of arable areas meaning agriculturally productive areas. If this trend continues unabated, we will soon lose the support which agriculture extends to the state and society. Shrinking agricultural areas means reduction in agrarian produce and consequent weakening of our economy.
Six years ago, the idea of having a well-considered agriculture policy for the state to take into account various problems and shortcomings of our agricultural activities, input and return etc. was mooted. The Legislative Assembly also took up the issue a number of times for debate desiring the Agriculture Production Department to formulate a well-considered agriculture policy that would lay down the road map for handling some serious problems pertaining to agriculture. In 2011, the then Minister in charge of the Department of Agriculture Production announced that the State would take steps to come up with a comprehensive agriculture policy which would be a long range policy and suggest how to overcome various issues. Six years have passed; no agriculture policy has been formulated at any level. All that was available with the said Department were wishes and sermons but nothing on the ground. It was stated that new policy would focus on diversification of crops and address the most serious issue of fast shrinking of farm land in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Even during the discussion on the functioning of Agriculture Production Department by the Department Related Standing Committee of Legislative Council in 2011 it was confirmed that agriculture policy was in the making. Nothing actually happened. However, when the Governor was running the affairs of the State for a short time in early 2016, the subject of framing agriculture policy came up and was assiduously pursued by the administration on the instance of the Governor. The then Advisor to Governor, while inaugurating Kissan Mela at SKICC Srinagar, stated that Government was working on a new agriculture policy which will go a long way in developing and expanding the most important sector of the State.
The point is that the Government made an announcement in 2011 that agriculture policy would be framed, but the matter dragged on and nothing was done except certain formalities and constituting of committee which did nothing in reality. Even the initiative taken by the Governor during his administration was watered down when the popular Government assumed the reins of administration. This shows that by repeating that agriculture is a vital sector, the Government is only proving its dichotomy in regard to word and action on its policy. Our agriculture land is shrinking, agriculture production is adversely affected, agricultural reforms are not forthcoming, comprehensive and clear cut agriculture policy is lacking and still the Government remains unmoved as if nothing will happen. We like to impress upon the Government that it must foresee the disaster likely to happen if it continues with its lackadaisical attitude of undermining the importune of agriculture sector to our society.
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