An 11-point agenda for resurrecting Indian agriculture and restoring the pride in farming

 Time to usher in "Acche din..." for the Indian farmers.

Indian agriculture is faced with a terrible agrarian crisis. It is a crisis primarily of sustainability and economic viability. The severity of the crisis can be gauged from the spate of farm suicides. In the past 17 years, close to 3 lakh farmers reeling under mounting have preferred to commit suicide. Another 42 per cent want to quit agriculture if given a choice.  The spate of farmer suicide and the willingness of farmers to quit agriculture is a stark reminder of the grim crisis.

Even at a time when the country was in the midst of elections, there was a spurt in farm suicides. In the past few weeks, on an average five farmers ended their lives in Vidharbha every day, another five in Telengana, three in Bundelkhand. In Marathawada in Maharashtra, news report say 101 farmers have taken their own lives in March-April. In progressive Punjab, 14 farmers have ended their lives in past two months.

 

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi blames UPA for the plight of jawanand kisan during the past 10 years, he raises a lot of hope for the beleaguered farming community. During election campaigning, he had specifically talked of farmer suicides, farm prices, crisis in agricultural marketing and also touched on local agricultural issues in different parts of the country. After all, kisano ke bhi to aache din aane chahiye …

What should therefore be the agriculture agenda for the new government? What should be the strategies and approaches that Narendra Modi has to follow to pull farmers out of the deep morass? Knowing very well that India cannot compromise with its food self-sufficiency, there has to be a number of short-term as well as long-term measures. I am being asked this question time and again. Here is my 11-point agenda:

 

1) Providing a guaranteed assured monthly income to farmers. According to the Arjun Sengupta Committee report the average monthly income of a farm family is Rs 2,115. This includes Rs 900 from non-farm activities. About 60 per cent farmers are dependent on MNREGA activities to survive, and an estimated 55 per cent farmers go to bed hungry. But these farmers produce economic wealth for the country in the form of agricultural, horticultural and dairy produce. It is high time they are adequately compensated for generating that massive economic wealth in the form of food. My suggestion is that the new government should set up a National Farmers Income Commission which should have the mandate to compute the monthly income of a farm family depending upon his production and the geographical location of the farm.

2) The time for price policy is now over. Every time the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is raised questions are asked about its impact on food inflation. Moreover, the Bali Ministeral of WTO has questioned India's subsidies that it provides to farmers by way of MSP. It is therefore an appropriate time to move from Price policy to Income policy. The income that a farmer earn should be de-linked from the price that his crops fetch in the market. That is why I have been asking for a guaranteed monthly income for for farmers. Let us not forget, if inflation is rising it is also rising for the farmers. While the Govt employees get DA instalments every 6 months to compensate for inflation, and get a pay commission every few year, farmers get only MSP and that too is un-remunerative. In an interesting study from Kerala, it was computed that if paddy price rise was to match the salary rise of govt officials, paddy price in 2005 should have been Rs 2669/qntl. It's Rs 1,310 today. In other words what paddy farmers are getting in 2014 as paddy price is 50 per cent of what they should have earned 9 years ago.

The burden of providing cheap food therefore to 1.25 billion people should not be only on the shoulders of farmers. The society too must share the burden.

3) There is an immediate need to strengthen the network of mandis (market yards) across the country whisch provides farmers with a platform to sell their produce. Leaving it to markets will result in distress sale. To illustrate, let me take the example of rice farmers in Punjab and Bihar. In Punjab, which has a huge network of mandis linked with roads, farmers bring the produce to these mandis. Last harvest, Punjab farmers got an MSP of Rs 1,310 per quintal for paddy. In Bihar, where APMC Act does not operate, farmers resorted to distress sale with prices not exceeding Rs 900 per quintal. The Commission for Costs and Prices (CACP) is now pressurising Punjab Govt to dismantle the mandis and let markets operate. Which means, Punjab farmers will soon go the Bihar way.

4) For a country which was able to build up an excellent marketing network for one of the most perishable commodities -- milk -- I see no reason why a similar approach cannot be adopted in providing a viable marketing network for fruits and vegetables. If the National Dairy Development Programme could ensure that milk is procured from each and every village, and then through a cooperative chain it is finally delivered to the consumers in the cities, I see no reason why India cannot carve out a marketing chain for fruits, vegetables and other farm commodities.

5) Cooperate farming need to be encouraged. Appropriate laws must be framed to make cooperatives more independent and effective. Drawing from the experience of the Amul cooperative in dairy farming, a similar system needs to be adopted for vegetables/fruit farming. I know of small cooperatives of organic farmers which have done wonders. Why can't it be replicated to rest of the crops?

6) Aim at making villages self-reliant in agriculture and food security. Feeding the population has to be linked with farming. Chhatisgarh has given an excellent model of self-reliance in agriculture and food security. It has shifted the focus to local production, local procurement and local distribution. This is exactly what needs to be done throughout the country for which the National Food Security Act needs an amendment. Instead of providing 5 kg of wheat/rice/millets every month, the focus should be on making the villages take care of their own food security needs. This will help reduce the huge subsidy bill on food security that is required every year and thereby reduce fiscal deficit. Such a programme will also help in removing hunger in the long term.

7) Green Revolution areas of the country are facing a crisis in sustainability. With soil fertility devastated, water table plummeting and environment contaminated with chemical pesticides and fertiliser, the resulting impact on the entire food chain and human health is being increasingly felt. The new Government should launch a nation-wide campaign to shift farming to non-pesticides management techniques. In Andhra Pradesh, no chemical pesticides are used in 35 lakh acres. Farmers have even stopped using chemical fertiliser in some 20 lakh hectares. Production has gone up, pesticides pollution has come down, insects attack has also come down, and more importantly farm incomes have gone up by 45 per cent because of reduced health expenses. There has been no farm suicides in these areas. The same system now needs to be extrapolated to the entire country with local modifiations/adaptation.

8) Agriculture, dairy and forestry should be integrated. Agricultural growth should not only be measured in terms of increase in foodgrain production but should be seen in the context of the village eco-system as a whole. This will also shift the focus to low external input sustainable agriculture (LEISA) practices. At the same time such an approach will limit the ecological footprint.

9) Importing food is importing unemployment. Recently, apple growers in Himachal Pradesh have been protesting against the low import tariffs for imported apples as a result of which the local produce goes abegging. There are no buyers for Himachal apples, and the prices have plummeted . Similarly for other crops. The Govt must raise the import duties on agriculture, horticulture and dairy products and refuse to buckle under the pressures being exerted through the Free Trade Agreements. It should not accept the European Union's demand for opening up for dairy products and fruits/vegetables by reducing the import duties. Studies have now shown that indiscriminate signing of FTAs and bilateral agreements has been disadvantageous to the country. Time to revisit the trade treaties and protect domestic agriculture thereby millions of livelihoods.

10) Climate change is certainly going to affect agriculture. But instead of looking at strategies only aimed at  lessening the impact on agriculture and making farmers cope with the changing weather patterns, the focus should also be to limit greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Considering that agriculture share in greenhouse gas emissions is about 25 per cent, the thrust must shift to reducing the application of chemical fertiliser/pesticides in farming. Following the AP model of non-pesticides management being the right approach, the cropping pattern too needs a revision. In the dryland regions of the country, for instance, at present hybrid crops which required almost twice the amount of water than normal crop varieties, are grown. Common sense tells us that in rainfed regions, which occupy 65 per cent of the cultivable area, crops requiring less water should be grown. But it is just the opposite in reality thereby accentuating the water crisis at times of rainfall delay.

I see no reason why Rajasthan, a semi-arid region, should be cultivating water guzzling sugarcane, cotton and rice crops. Similarly I see no reason why Bundelkhand should be cultivating mentha crops, which requires 1.25 lakh litres of water to produce 1 kg of mentha oil. Why can't the cropping pattern in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh shift to pulses, oilseeds (like mustard) and millets? Why can't the Goovt provide special incentives by way of a higher price for these crops so that farmers can willingly shift to more sustainable cropping patterns?

11) Lack of storage for foodgrains is appalling. It was in 1979 that under the Save Food Campaign, the Govt had promised to set up grain silos at 50 places in the country. This should be the top agenda for the new government. Not even a single grain should be allowed to go waste. #

US Drought: GM crops fails to salvage the epic drought.

US faces 'epic drought' conditions in California and Texas

For the past three years, California and Texas in United States is reeling under a severe drought. Some call it an 'epic drought' whereas some consider the continuing drought to be reminiscent of the Dust-Bowl days. "About 90 per cent of Texas is currently under drought conditions, and the State's northern panhandle and Southwest regions are experiencing 'catastrophic' conditions," says a report on AlterNet (Texas drought spawning fires and Dust-Bowl like conditions, AlterNet May 20, 2014).

In California, the situation is no different. A Reuters news agency report states: "The most populous US State is in its third year of what officials are calling a catastrophic drought, leaving some small communities at risk of running out of drinking water and leading farmers to leave fallow nearly a half-million acres of land." (California drought will cost thousands of farm jobs: Study. Reuters. May 20, 2014. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/20/us-usa-california-drought-jobs-idUSBREA4J01M20140520). As many as 14,500 full time as well as seasonal jobs will be lost this year.

For three consecutive years California and Texas have been ravaged by a severe drought. And yet, the US Department of Agriculture seems so helpless. More importantly, the USDA had been telling the world of the exhaustive drought-mitigation programme it had worked out some decades ago, which I still remember the well-known Indian scientist Dr M S Swaminathan quoting it often to drive home the point as to how and why the country should learn from the US on the need to drought proof the country.

What went wrong?

Before we look into some of the causes, here is an interesting paradox. A Grist news report tells us that while "California is experiencing one of its driest years in the past half millennium, it also happens to be the country's leading dairy supplier." Estimating the water footprint in producing one gallon of milk, the report works out that 683 gallons of water are required for producing 1 gallon of milk just from alfa-alfa alone. For meat, the water footprint is equally worse. According to a study by Mekonnen and Hoekstra, it takes a total of 425 gallons of water to produce a four-ounce serving of beef in America. The same size serving of pork takes 165 gallons of water; for chicken 66 gallons (It takes how much water to make Greek yoghurt?! http://grist.org/food/it-takes-how-much-water-to-make-greek-yogurt/).

There are 5 million dairy cows in California.

 Drought takes a toll of livestock in Texas

Despite putting up a wonderful document on drought mitigation, things have actually not improved in US when it comes to drought preparedness. In 2002 when 26 of the 50 US States were experiencing drought, India too was badly affected. It was then that I had done a comparison. In my article Drought -- Lessons from America, I wrote: "The American agriculture that we studies in the universities and appreciated has crumbled with one year of severe drought. It is well known that Indian agriculture falters because of its complete dependence on monsoons. But with the kid of industrialisation that took place in America, and with the kind of investments made, we were told that the US agriculture is not dependent upon rains. Now though, the drought proofing that we heard so much about appears to be a farce." (You can read the full article here: http://indiatogether.org/agriculture/opinions/dsharma/uslessons.htm).

That was in 2002. We are now in 2014. US agriculture has failed once again to tackle a drought.

More so at a time when the USDA as well as the US biotechnology companies keep on asserting that some genetically modified crop varieties they have developed are drought resistant. Monsanto advertises all over the world to save every drop of water. They have convinced the 'liberal' and educated class everywhere of the great potential that exists for GM technology. Shouldn't we therefore ask a question: Why did the GM crops fail the farmers in California and Texas? Why are the farmers keeping their land fallow if USDA has those varieties hat can be grown under drought conditions? Where are the drum-beaters of GM technology (in the US universities) who tell farmers in Asia and Africa of the virtues of GM crops that can stand water stress conditions?

Isn't that a farce too??

The truth is GM crops have failed to withstand drought like conditions. While the GM crop varieties (including herbicide tolerant crops that Monsanto promotes) have been destroyed by US drought, the non-GM crops have survived. Isn't there a great lesson here for the USDA? Shouldn't it revert back to the native crop varieties that have survived the drought? In an in-depth article GM Crops destroyed by US drought but non-GM varieties flourish (Here is the link: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/US_drought_destroys_GM_Crops.php) Dr Mae-Wan Ho has detailed out how the GM crops failed the drought, and tells us about the inherent ability of native plants to withstand such harsh environs.


Secondly, the US must resorts to water harvesting. Sometimes back, on a visit to Texas A&M University I was shown the Tamil Nadu water harvesting system being developed at the university. I remember telling the scientists that the tragedy is that the Indian policy makers imported the 'Ridge to Valley' system of water harvesting developed at the Tennessee Valley Authority, which has failed to work in India. But it is time the US adopts the Tamil Nadu water harvesting system, which is much better and effective for acute drought conditions. If only more emphasis was laid on building water harvesting structures in Texas/California instead of depending on carrying water from long distances, US wouldn't have been in such a deep trouble.

It is also time to discard your superiority ego and learn from the simple and yet effective drought-proofing systems prevalent in many of the villages in India. It is time to learn from the wisdom that has been passed down from generations to generations rather than remain struck in your own technology cocoon. Sometimes simple technologies work wonders. You can ignore them at your own peril. #

For an aspirational India, Elections 2014 outcome throws up great expectations.

  

Elections 2014 has thrown up lot of expectations for the masses. We need a cheerful India. 

-- AFP photo 

The day the election results were pouring in (May 16, 2014) I happened to be on a TV channel at the prime time. In the midst of all the euphoria over the rising stock markets and the cheering proponents of the market reforms, I was asked whether the landslide verdict in favour of Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would really usher in the "acche din" (good days).

My answer was in the affirmative. But with a small clarification. "Acche din is not only for the stock markets, not only for the top 1% of the population, but more so for the huge mass that is somehow able to eek out a living, somehow managing two square meals a day." I narrated a small story to drive home the point. Just before coming to the studios I walked into a vegetable market in Noida. I asked the price of some vegetables. I told the vendor to reduce the price of lady finger that I intended to buy. His response was: "Ok Sir, today you can pay what you want. After all, Narendra Modi has been elected as the Prime Minister. Ab Acche din aane wale hain..."

So when I heard the Prime Minister-designate today say while addressing the newly elected NDA members: Ours will be a government that thinks, works and lives for the poor. This will be a government dedicated to the villages, youth and women of India," my hope was reinforced. Reading economists Jagdish Bhagwati/Arvind Panagariya as well as some other writers in the English-language newspapers for the past few days one gathered the impression as if the new government would be only for the top 1 per cent of the population. Sadly, I find that a section of the mainline media was only batting for the rich and powerful. As if the rest of India did not matter.

This reminds of what Mahatma Gandhi had famously said in his Talisman.

It is so depressing to read and hear every day that the first step the Prime Minister has to take is to reduce the fiscal deficit, and when they say fiscal deficit the TV anchors, mainline economists and the panelists blame the subsidies for the poor to be primarily responsible. I heard many panelists say that the new government should withdraw LPG subsidy by reducing the number of subsidised cylinders that each family gets in a year. We are told LPG subsidy comes to Rs 48,000-crore and this is a wasteful expenditure. I was asked the other day this question. My answer was that there is no need to reduce the number of subsidised cylinders for every household. Why not instead reduce the monumental subsidy that is being churned out to people who do not need it, and here I mean the corporates. For 2014-15, the government has given a subsidy of Rs 5.73 lakh crore by way of tax concessions. Isn't this a wasteful expenditure? Why no economist/journalist talks about it?

We are also told that the amount being spent on LPG subsidy -- Rs 48,000 crore -- is good enough to remove poverty for one year. If this is true, then let me tell you that the total subsidy/tax concessions doled out to Indian Inc since 2004-05 is Rs 31-lakh crores. If this amount was spent on fighting poverty, India could have easily wiped out poverty for the next 62 years. If you can remove poverty for 62 years, you actually remove it for all times to come. I don't know why there is a raging contempt for the poor and marginalised. You probably know the reason better than me.   

I don't want to make any more suggestions on what needs to be done in the coming months. I would rather wait and watch. After all, any Prime Minister with such a clear mandate would like to leave his name permanently embedded in gold letters. It is Narendra Modi's opportunity to pull the country out of the morass, and catapult it to a stage of development where everyone (and I repeat everyone) emerges out of the blue; where everyone finds democracy coming to their doorsteps not to seek votes but to hold their hand. Let India carve a new pathway to development, which is both environmentally sustainable and equitable.

Let's all join hand, wherever we are, towards a new India where no one goes to sleep empty stomach, and where the development process does not leave behind a bleeding ecosystem. 

The Other Silent Wheat Revolution in Punjab.

For several years now, I know for sure that my parents have been buying Madhya Pradesh wheat for home consumption. They normally would purchase wheat grains at the end of the harvest, stock it in a storage bin and get the monthly requirement milled at the local flour mill. Last week, my father was travelling and so he asked me to ensure that since we have run out of the stored grain stock I should buy wheat flour from the market in a day or so other wise we will have to depend upon rice for our daily meals.

I live in Mohali in Punjab.

The next day I went to the local flour mill. I asked the owner whether I would be able to get wheat atta from Madhya Pradesh wheat. The man at the counter nodded his head. I got a 10-Kg package priced at Rs 32/Kg, a lot higher than what I would have paid for the normal wheat. Atta from Punjab's wheat is sold at Rs 23/kg.

This wheat is not from the fields of Punjab, the food granary. The Sharbati variety comes from Madhya Pradesh.(Pic from web)

To get an idea as to what percentage of his customers were having a liking for MP wheat, I asked him if he could tell me if there are any more buyers for the expensive MP atta. He smiled, and replied: "Well, roughly 60 per cent of my customers buy MP atta from me. Also, a number of those who bring wheat grains for milling also carry MP wheat." I came back and thought of doing a random sample check. I asked a dozen of my neighbours and friends as to what kind of atta they consume at home. At least ten of them responded saying they were eating MP atta.

I don't have the statistics to tell you how much of wheat from Madhya Pradesh is being imported into Punjab, but what I know for sure is that traders are importing a large quantity of wheat at a much higher price -- anything between Rs 2,600 to Rs 3,100 per quintal. Local wheat from Punjab is available at Rs 1,400 per quintal. Besides, the local flour mills, MP wheat atta -- which is actually from a desi sharbati variety is being marketed by a number of companies

What makes the general preference for Madhya Pradesh wheat is that it is chemical free. According to a report in India Today (way back in Oct 15, 2007. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Grains+of+gold/1/1561.html) entitled Grains of Gold: "India's granary Punjab still produces the lion's share of the country's wheat. But when it comes to taste, quality and other attributes, Madhya Pradesh's Sharbati tops the charts in demand in the metros. The lustrous, golden-hued grain commands premium price, being re-christened golden or premium wheat in wholesale and retail markets of Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad or simply, MP wheat in major North Indian markets like Delhi.

Grown mainly in eight districts spread across three agro-climatic zones, the wheat has slowly carved a niche for itself because of its shine, big grain size and a reputation for its flour producing the tastiest rotis by far. And the formula has been perfected through a combination of traditional practices and some unique soil and climatic condition."

What about the wheat farmers? Don't they prefer the MP wheat? Do they not know that chemical fertilisers and pesticides are harmful for their health? Well, they have always known this. I remember when I was reporting for the Indian Express way back in the 1980s from Chandigarh, I had seen many Punjab farmers keeping a separate patch of land in one corner of their crop field for growing wheat for their home consumption. To this plot, they would not add any chemicals.   

Whatever the scientists might say, not only farmers, the common people too have begun the realise the importance of chemical free foods. With health problems accentuating in the recent past, the trend is increasingly towards safe food. Over the years, the preference and intake for non-chemical farm produce is growing, and growing at a phenomenal pace. Interestingly, not all of them are banking on organic certification. The wheat that is being imported from MP for instance comes with no certificate. It is only through goodwill and faith that people are willing to pay a higher price for what they are told is a better quality produce.

This brings me to a related question of grain wastage. Every year, we witness huge stocks of wheat lying in the open for want of storage. Much of it rots. A significant proportion of the stored grains are also rendered unfit for human consumption. Wouldn't it therefore make economic sense for the Punjab (and also for Haryana) governments to encourage farmers to grow wheat without chemicals to cater to the local needs in both the agriculturally frontline States? This will not only reduce the burden of storing monumental wheat stocks but also make the environment safe? At the same time, the reduction in health expenses alone for the people as a result of this shift in production systems and the accompanying thrust on encouraging safe food consumption would be too economical.

If Punjab government can provide a subsidy of Rs 4,000 per acre for the paddy farmers to shift to cotton cultivation, I wonder why a similar subsidy cannot be provided to wheat farmers to shift from chemical farming to non-chemical farming? This will have multiple advantages -- for the producers, consumers and for the environment. #

While Indian stock markets soar, there is a spurt in farmers suicides.

An Indian farmer is born in debt, lives in debt and dies in debt.

There is excitement all around. Market continued to rally for the second straight day on the expectation of a new and stable government. As per reports, the NSE 50-share Nifty crossed the 7,000 level for the first time in the history to touch 7,020 points. The BSE Sensex rallied 550 points on May 12 to close at 23,551 points. Some market analysts are pointing to the Sensex breaching the 25,000 mark in a day or so.

While the huge road show at the Dalal Street is what dons the national headlines, the loud cries of wailing farm widows have been lost in the noise and cacophony of electioneering. There is a renewed spurt in the number of farm suicides across the country. My colleague Dr G V Ramanjaneyulu of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad, today said that five farmers have been committing suicide ever day in the Vidharbha, and another five in the Telengana region. He has based his calculations on newspaper reports from the region. In Bundelkhand, civil society activist Sanjay Singh says in the past fortnight there have been on an average 2-3 farm suicides every day.

In Punjab, the food bowl of the country, Indian Express (May 13, 2014) reports ten farmers have committed suicide in last 40 days.

In Bundelkhand region, which cuts across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, 105 farm suicides were reported in the first three months of the year. Till Mar 31, Sanjay Singh had recorded 105 farmers who had taken their own lives. Reeling under mounting debt, these farmers had given up when the freak weather hit the standing crop in several parts of central India. In neighbouring Maharashtra, some 27 farmers had ended their life when hailstorm had flattened their standing crop in the month of March.

Only a day before, I read news reports stating two debt-ridden farmer brothers, Jugraj Singh (33) and Jagtar Singh (30) consumed poison to end their lives. They belonged to Hassanpur village in Mansa district of Punjab. They had taken a loan of Rs 3-lakh from the Punjab Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank in Budlada. They were issued a notice by the bank for non-payment of the pending amount, and unable to repay they preferred to end their lives. Unfortunately, their father had also committed suicide some 13 years ago.

While Punjab has launched a fresh study into farmer suicides, it has also set up a committee to frame a policy on farm suicides. This follows a directive from the Punjab and Haryana High Court to spell out a concrete policy framework to tackle suicides in the farm sector. In Punjab, 6,926 farmers and farm labourers have committed suicides ,in the ten year period 2001-10.

There are no dearth of studies to know why the farmers are being increasingly driven to end their own lives. Similarly, there is no end to to the number of committees set up at the State and Central level to come out with recommendations to end the malaise. So much so that the outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had made a visit to suicide hotspot Vidharbha soon after assuming office in 2004, but failed to stem the sordid tide. Planning Commission too was forced to screen the Bollywood film Pipli Live in Yojna Bhavan sometimes back showing clearly its casual approach in addressing agrarian crisis. 

The serial death dance on the farm however continues unabated.

The spurt in farm suicides in the past few weeks is a demonstration of the apathy and neglect with which policy makes have treated agriculture. In fact, I find a kind of contempt that prevails in policy planning towards farming and agriculture. Farmers are being treated as if they are a burden on the society, and all efforts are to force them to abandon agriculture and migrate into the cities. The sooner the nation offloads this burden, the better it will be country's growth and development is what is generally perceived. I therefore don't see much of hope for India's farmers. Unless of course the new government decides to take a re-look at agriculture and adopts policies that brings back the pride in farming. The approach has to be on how to make agriculture economically viable and environmentally sustainable.        

When will India stop treating farmer suicides as another set of statistics? 

Shouldn't we rejoice when car sales decline? Why does the media paint a gloomy picture instead?

There is gloom all around. The Indian media as well as the business analysts are disappointed at the dipping car sales. "Passenger car sales in India fell by the double digits in April, a new low for the nation's auto market that has been struggling because of weak consumer confidence in a slowing economy as well as high borrowing cost and fuel prices," says a news report in the Economic Times (Car sales slip further by double digits in April, May 10, 2014. http://bit.ly/1g9HErY).

This is not the first time that you read such a news report. But coming in the wake of a World Health Organisation (WHO) report that points to New Delhi as the worst polluted city (Delhi is world's most polluted city: WHO study. http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/who-study-delhi-most-polluted-city/1/205985.html) I thought the media should be actually rejoicing at the declining sales of automobiles in India. According to a report in The Telegraph (May 8, 2014) "A study of global air pollution in 1600 cities -- the largest ever -- found the Indian capital's air quality is almost three times worse than Beijing and that 13 Indian cities are among the 20 most polluted in the world."

The report also tells us that 1,400 cars and bikes are added to New Delhi's streets every day. And mind you, as per the 2011 Census, only 4.7 per cent on India's population owns cars. Imagine if 10 per cent of India's population was to own cars !!

Meanwhile, India has already surpassed China when it comes to environmental pollution. According to the 2014 Environmental Performance Index India is ranked 155 among 178 countries, performing even worse than China, Pakistan and Nepal. (Read my earlier blog post: India beats China in environmental destruction. India ranked 155th in Global Environmental Performance Index. http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.in/2014/01/india-beats-china-in-environmental.html). In another report, Mail Today (May 11, 2014) says a similar study done by Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, in collaboration with University of Minnesota and University of Colorado at Denver has shown a 100 per cent jump in mortality arising from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases linked to pollution. "In 2010, 18, 229 cases of total mortality, 6,374 cases of cardiovascular mortality, 2,701 cases of respiratory mortality and 26, 525 cases of hospital admissions of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) linked to pollution," the report says (Delhi pollution deaths soar by 100 per cent since 1991. Mail Today http://dailym.ai/1sAR29G).

Well, it is not the auto sector is the only culprit. But certainly it is one of the major reasons behind the deteriorating environmental standards in cities. This is primarily because of of the faulty parameters of growth that have been somehow embedded in our thinking. The more expensive the car, more is the pollution leaving behind a deleterious impact on human health and environment. The more you fall sick, the more is the addition to the country's economy.

Some years back I recall TV journalist Vinod Dua had taken up this issue in one of his shows. Present in the panel was Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh (he was then with the Congress party). To the question that cars are increasingly becoming a lifestyle statement, I remember Jairam Ramesh had replied saying that it is an indication of rising incomes. To this, Vinod Dua had come down heavily asking why shouldn't the emphasis not be on developing a mass rapid transit system. I don't think any journalist will repeat the same question now. The way TV channels are hosting regular shows on cars, the thrust is on making people buy expensive cars (and the channels garnering higher revenues). The more the sales of cars, the higher is the GDP growth.

Look at the picture above. It tells you very clearly how much space is need by 60 people if they travel in car, bus or bicycle. The picture is self-explanatory. Adding more cars only adds to the ecological footprint and turns cities into living furnaces. Why can't the growth model aim at sustainable living instead? Why can't the immediate focus of development be to provide cheaper, and easily available public transport or what is called as mass transit system? Whether it is metro or a bus service, every city should be planning for the future. Already, there are lessons to be learnt from across the world where city administrations are making it difficult for cars to ply as freely as they used to. In addition, adequate space is being provided for people who would like to use the bicycle instead.

There is also a need to impose higher taxes on bigger cars. The longer the length of the luxury car, the longer is the traffic jam at peak hours. But this would require a concerted effort on the part of the automobile sector, the media as well as the planners to work towards sustainable living. But all his can happen only if we are able to build adequate public pressure. It is because we are not proactive when it comes to citizen's rights that the cities are not only deteriorating, but collapsing.  

Don't feel ashamed. Eat with your hands

 

 'Eating food with your hands not only feeds the body but also the mind and the spirit'

                                                     www.foodenthusiastsofdelhi.com 

Eating with hands? Most educated and upward mobile Indians would scoff at the very idea. In fact, I know a lot of educated Indians who would shift seat on a dining table if they see someone eating with hands. That's what it takes to demonstrate that you are an educated liberal, who can't tolerate the ruffians eating with hands. In other words, eating with fork and knife (or chopsticks) is simply a demonstration of how 'civilized' you are. So when a newspaper like New York Times does a feature entitled:'Mind Your Manners: Eat with your hands' (NYT Jan 17, 2012. http://nyti.ms/1horkOH) it makes me realise that I am not the only one who is uncivilized.

It is so heartening to know that writer Amitav Gosh doesn't go to Indian restaurants in London and New York because they discourage eating with hands. New York Times quotes a cookbook writer and cooking teacher Mrs Sahni saying: "Eating with hands evokes great emotions. It kindles something very warm and gentle and caressing. Using a fork is unthinkable in traditional Indian eating. It is almost like a weapon."  
 
So when did I start picking up the weapons. Let me remember. Well, true to what Lord Macaulay had said (and we implemented) I remember the days when I joined Sainik School Kapurthala. In this boarding school  from day one I was taught to use fork and knife, and even had to roll chapati and dip it in the bowl of Dal before taking a bite. You couldn't eat chapati the way you normally do at home. I guess this was part of the boarding school etiquette or rituals that was actually the left over of the British legacy. So what I was taught in my school did stay with me. But Still I tried to make my own adjustments. 

Talking about the British legacy, here is another lost tradition that I feel very sad about. When I see Indians using a fork and knife, very carefully peeling and splitting mangoes into small pieces that they can pick with a fork, I feel very disappointed. When I take the mango kernel in my hands and devour it the way I love, I see people frowning at me. This reminds of what the late Dr M S Randhawa had written.  

The British also tried to distort the name for mango, the king of fruits. Dr Randhawa once wrote that the British did not saviour the site of Indians squatting on the floor and sucking mangoes, with the juice flowing down their elbows. They often referred it to as the 'bathroom fruit.' And they would ensure that the Indian staff in their houses (during the British Raj) would eat mangoes only in the bathroom. (Read my earlier blog post: Coarse cereals should be called Nutri-cereals.
http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.in/2009/03/coarse-cereals-should-be-called-nutri.html) 

Why blame the British, the modern Indian also hates the site of people squatting and sucking mangoes. This is perhaps the reason why the sucking varieties of mangoes have disappeared from the market.   

While the north Indians have certainly become modern (or at least they want to look modern, educated and ready to join the elite club) I still find the people living in eastern and southern India to be proud of their traditional culinary habits. Ask for a meal, and a range of food products are served on a banana leaf. It is so refreshing to see the south Indians using hands, and the restaurants providing a special corner for hand wash. My friends Dr GV Ramanjaneyulu of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad, and C Jayakumar, Usha S and Sridhar R from the voluntary group Thanal in Kerala have always been happy using heir hands while eating. Sometimes when I ask for a spoon, they really have to get up from the table to fetch one for me. Elsewhere too I find most of my friends are very comfortable using their hands to eat.   

Once I was at a dinner with the famous Indian scientist Dr M S Swaminathan at his home in Chennai. Seeing Dr Swaminathan using his hands freely, dipping it in rice and sambar, I asked him what he thought about eating with hands. He had a lot to tell, and so did I. We had a number of stories to share and regale, about how some distinguished people felt embarrassed to see us eating with hands, but I still remember Dr Swaminathan telling me that eating with fingers makes you mentally sharp and intelligent. Of course he didn't have any empirical evidence to back up the claim, but he did tell me that the Nobel Laureate the late Dr C V Raman used to think so. 

Well, talking about fork and knife I still don't understand why do some people use fork instead of a spoon while eating rice? Isn't it time that we discard the illusionary robe of modernity that we wear and get back to the romance of food? Come on, don't feel ashamed. The next time you see someone eating with fork and knife, pick up the courage to say: Excuse me, Would you mind your Manners. #    

Further reading: Eating with hands: Connecting food to the soul by Anuradha Gupta
http://www.foodenthusiastsofdelhi.com/2013/11/eating-with-hands-connecting-food-to.html

Ever heard of Growth blindness? If not, you too may be suffering from it.

There are generally two kinds of eye problems that people face. There is myopia, short-sightedness. And then there is hyperopia, far-sightedness. But over the years, another major eye defect has emerged. It is called growth blindness. Almost all educated, even if they happen to suffer from either myopia or hyperopia, are falling to growth blindness. Universities and educational institutes are churning out graduates and post-graduates (not to talk of people passing out from Business Schools) who are made to believe in the magic potion of growth.

The newspapers are full of reports and quotes about growth. Finance Ministers (everywhere in the world) swear in the name of economic growth. TV anchors (most of them have not ventured out of their plush offices for years) are hung on economic growth. That is what they have read in the university, and if they ever try to question the growth paradigm the business house owning the channel will throw them out. And they know for sure -- getting a job again even at times of rising growth is not easy.

So basically, it's all about protecting and saving your job. Whether it is a journalist, economist, academician, credit rating analyst or a politician, singing the growth chorus helps them to save their job.

Growth blindness is a manufactured disease. It's an economic system that money has been able to create. Take the example of oil spills. Do you want more oil spills to happen or do you think these spills are a disaster for environment and health? Well, a Houston-based Oil pipeline company recently acknowledged that "Spill response and clean-up created business opportunities for affected communities, regions and clean-up service providers." In other words, oil spills help in raising GDP or growth. Oil Company argues oil spills are good for the economy. (http://www.thewire.com/business/2014/05/oil-company-argues-oil-spills-are-good-for-the-economy/361551/

When Oxfam International tells us that the wealth of 85 people equals that of 3.2 billion, we categorise it as growing inequality. When we are told that the income of 0.1 per cent among the top 1 per cent of the American population has gained the most from the multi-billion dollar bailout packages that somehow stalled the collapse of global economy in 2008-09, we heave a sigh of relief.  We don't want to read the second para that tells us that the income gains for the remaining 99 per cent was in the negative. We know this is inevitable. We also know this is unfair and unjust. But we prefer not to question. Questioning will automatically put a stop to your own growth. Better to keep mum.

When we are told that 80 per cent of Americans live in 'near poverty' we just ignore. When we read that pollution levels in China and India are reaching dangerous levels, we take it as if it is a small time sacrifice that people must make for the sake of growth. When the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tells us that the world is getting closer to a tripping point, we go back to textbooks which tells us that every disaster is a business opportunity. Meaning more growth.

There is a limit to growth.

In their paper The Making of an Economist (Journal of Economic Perspective. 1987), Colander and Klamer gave an explanation for economic blindness. They concluded that it primarily lies in an educational system that pumps out economists who are utterly clueless as to how the world economy operates. These textbook economists go out and then preach whatever the textbooks prescribe. Often I mention when it comes to rising inflation, I find most of these economist blame supply-demand constrains for the rising food prices. That's what they have been taught in their colleges. They can't think beyond that. But when I say there is no supply constraint, they are baffled. Not knowing what to say, they go on repeating ad nauseam that inflation is the outcome of supply-demand constraints. 

Over the years, a handful of thinkers, includes some economists, have begun the question the sustainability of growth economics. Their number is growing with each passing week. While the objective of this piece is not to take you through the corridors of alternative to growth economics that is building up, I want you to take a look at this latest initiative by Olivier de Shutter, who till recently was the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. He has called for a conference: The EU's 5th Project: transitional Governance in the Service of Sustainable Societies to be held at Brussels May 8-9 2014.  

Olivier says: “We need alternatives to GDP growth as the goal of public policy, and we need alternatives to work and wealth accumulation as the driving forces in our lives. A genuine transition in the way we live is the only true path to sustainability. But it must be accompanied by a transition in the way we govern. This is Europe’s fifth project.” I agree.

The EU5th Project Conference (link here: http://stanford.io/1o5EVyM) is asking a few key questions. These are the basic questions that every sensible person should be asking:

• Must we change our measure of progress?
• How to move to sustainable consumption?
• Are inequalities an obstacle to achieving sustainability?
• Can the redefinition of gender roles contribute to sustainability?
• Can finance be put in the service of sustainability?
• What role should social investment play in the sustainability agenda?
• Must we link trade to social and environmental standards?
• How to re-imagine transitional governance?

I am sure some of you will have some additional pertinent questions. This is just a beginning, and in the days to come the alternatives to growth blindness will gradually emerge. There are already distinguished people working on a radical overhaul of the food systems, making it more local and sustainable. There are social entrepreneurs, academicians, thinkers, writers and activists who are talking of Economics of Happiness. There are environmental movements across the globe that are fighting for bringing in some sanity in the economic growth paradigm. Their voice is growing. Another World is Possible was a powerful slogan some years back. And that I think is the best hope that I see on horizon.

The movement for alternative to the faulty growth economics model is now growing. Occupy movement, Arab Spring and India's fight against corruption were essentially part of the same thought process. The World Social Forum takes it to another level. Meanwhile, concerned citizens, smaller groups are coming together, forming alliances and networks. One such event being planned  is titled "For a successful XXI century, let's build alternatives to fear, violence and war!" at Lyon, July 4-6. http://dialoguesenhumanite.org/lyon/1175/programme-2014.

I will continue to update you with relevant information as and when I can lay my hands upon. 

Meanwhile, stand up and be counted. It's time to remove growth blindness. At stake is your own survival, and the future of your children. You can't leave a dead planet behind. #