At several environment conferences over the years, we have seen
environmentalists trying to block any progress on the farm front by raising
fears about the negative impact of genetic modification (GM)
technology, mechanisation of agriculture, construction of irrigation dams and
other issues.
They are seeking to set farming in poor and developing nations back by many
years by romanticising a past that did not produce enough output to feed a
growing population.
As a farmer and as one who empathises with other hapless farmers, I assert that
our farmers are second to none when it comes to hard work, intelligence and
ability to handle technological innovations.
In and around Johannesburg, I have seen large and small farms where farmers were
clearly winning the battle against poverty because their society and government
have helped them benefit from the advances in science by allowing in GM crops
after careful evaluation.
Barely eight years after apartheid, South Africa can teach us a thing or two
about farming. In my interactions with African farmers, I was surprised to learn
that most African countries have better natural
resources like land, soil and climate than India.
A little assistance with better management of these resources would go a long
way towards ameliorating their per capita food needs and achieving an economic
threshold that would be comparable to any developed country.
Sadly, in these countries too, bureaucracy, corruption and exploitation of the
vast majority of underprivileged by a small minority has stunted economic
growth.
India may have been rid of colonialism but we remain trapped in a regressive
mindset. How else can we reconcile ourselves to denying advances like GM
technology to the same Indian farmers who unhesitatingly embraced the latest
technologies for the green revolution, white revolution and blue revolution.
They doubled the grain yield within two decades, made India the largest producer
of milk and the biggest exporter of seafood. Were not hybrid seeds, use of
imported nitrogenous fertilizers and copious irrigation a revolutionary change
from the then existing farm practices?
The production of double-cross hybrids, hybridisation exploiting male-sterility
systems and the creation of new variants through use of ionising radiations,
chemical mutagenesis and tissue culture are as much
an application of scientific discoveries and technological innovations as that
of biotechnology.
The tomato that we all relish today is a far cry from the native tomato which is
still available in Chile. The latter is no bigger than a gooseberry, is highly
acidic and often poisonous for human or animal
consumption. Yet, science has tamed this wild plant.
We must allow for the natural progression of our society without hindrance from
these so-called environmentalists who have no moral justification or physical
validity to represent farmers.
The farmers of developing nations are well within their rights to seek the
fruits of scientific labour. For, after all, when farmers increase productivity,
economic viability increases, encouraging us to adopt more
technologies, become competitive and also become consumers of different
products.
Bumper harvests can only lead to better industrial growth, better health, better
education and less social problems. It will stop migration to urban areas and
reduce overall dependence on the government. It will prevent us from becoming
dependent on international food aid.
At the Johannesburg climate meet, farmers from developing nations realised that
agriculture has different connotations for developed and developing nations. It
is of little importance to Europeans and Americans in terms of employment,
dependency, food security, etc.
However, agriculture, in terms of investment and research, is viewed differently
by them. The Americans have invested heavily in biotechnology and IT. The
Europeans are lagging behind or stalling American business interests. Greens and
other environmentalists are basically tools to
settle business conflicts.
When it comes to protecting the interest of their farmers, both the US and
the EU continue their subsidies, protect them from external aggression and
refuse to open their markets.
The realisation has dawned on farmers of developing nations in Asia, Africa and
South America that we need to unite and establish a lobby to protect our
interests at different levels.
We have to establish strategic alliances not only among ourselves but also among
whoever helps in increasing our productivity and enhancing our competitiveness.
We need to build partnerships with research institutes, industries including
multinationals, adopt biotechnology and information technology
and invite investments in our agro-processing industries.
We need to lobby with inter national organisations for more resources in order
to make our farming globally competitive. We have realised that we should look
at agriculture not in terms of mere food security or raw material, but as a
global competitor. We need to utilise WTO more effectively.
What we require is access to technologies and more resources to develop
ourselves as knowledge workers and establish our own institutions.
We can achieve this if we put aside our petty personal agendas, trust
science-based developments and acquire the political will to empower farmers on
their home turf.
P. Chengal Reddy, Times of India, October 31, 2002
The author is honorary chairman, Federation of Farmers Association, Hyderabad
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