Micro-macro linkages in agriculture

The ministry in its wisdom has created such a mess in agriculture that it will not go away, no matter what the efforts. The janitors from the west that came and plunked themselves here did precious little except send off stink in all directions - stink of intrigue. They can be seen in all offices of power trying frantically to point a finger at every one, except themselves. These jokers, as one would like to think of them, have made life for the farmers very difficult.
In one case I tried desperately to get the CV of the person, but guess what, the CV has been removed from the files. This case of removal of documents was done purposely as the person in question has been siphoning of resources of this country without doing anything worthwhile. One drew a blank from the establishment division as well. I have since written to the individual to give me his CV so that it can be examined for what it is worth. He will be grinning like a chimpanzee and that is about the only thing that he does well. What has that to do with the micro-macro linkages? It has a considerable amount for if one were to examine the human resources of the ministry, it has all kinds of Kachra in it and very few who understand agriculture, including its top boss. The result is what you see: untrammelled inflation, unemployment and fiscal debt. With agriculture doing the major part in the growth of the country, it would be interesting to see how this is going at the moment.
The goons set up a support price of Rs 950 per 40 kg only to see the inflation rise in proportion to the increase in support price. The days of support prices are over. This is an immature action and it did no favour to the farmer. The small farmer with a total of 93% and of which, less than 3 acres were 60%, suffered despite the increase in prices. The reason was that they were never market players and they had wheat for 2 months in a bad year and for three months in a good agriculture year. And what about the 44% landless that are in the rural areas and what about the slum-dwellers in urban areas?
Wages went up as a result and this is the first time that inflation is caused by a glut in the wheat production system. The consequential affect of all that was that the productivity did not increase but the area increased and this increase came from encouraging on the fodder area. The net result of the short-term policy was that the farmer did not have any fodder for an extended period and this led to a rise in prices and a sale of the animals to Afghanistan. So milk prices went up. Worse still the poor man's protein, usually from beef, was badly curtailed when the price of beef went up. Since the poor man's income apportioned for food is 87% of the total income, he was at a loss as to what to do. In his case there are no options, something that the ministry did not realise.
The price of vegetables went up and the much-needed reforms of the domestic markets were not carried out. The mafias saw to it that the world would be differently ordered. Two reforms were needed and both had no financial implications. Capitalism has been made to rub its nose in the dust by the parochial policies of the food and agriculture ministry under the last minister, or under the one in the Musharraf regime. They do not see any further than their nose. If the farmer's has to be a micro-requirement has to be handled, then it has to be handled in a specific manner.
That means that the end result should have a three-way win situation - for the farmer [producer], for the consumer and for the middle man. The economy is a gainer. In the 1994-95 year, the growth in agriculture touched 11.7% and this calculation was done by the finance minister of the Nawaz government for the period when Shaheed Benazir Bhutto had been ousted. Each percentage point, if I rightly recall, was worth 2 billion rupees. The current drum beating by the self is merely a result of the megalomania that these power hungry people suffer from.
Macro-figures develop as result of the happiness that this would cause for the rural areas and for the farmers. For the landless, job availability would be there because of a bumper crop and because of other external factors. The realities have to be faced. This is difficult for the Agriculture person because he is ossified, because he is taking education that is obsolete. If one were to go to these schools of learning, one would be appalled for they are involved in all kinds of mishandling of situations and for seeking benefits for themselves. The faculty itself is Long John Silver [out of Treasure Island] like with all of them either having a stoop or a limb that does not carry the weight. The deficit can be removed by a simple exercise in the personal sector of agriculture. Each and every person that is not pulling his weight has to go.
The criterion has to be laid down so that enmities so germane in Agriculture are not fostered. In agriculture that is not possible and we have seen the effect of this in the opportunity cost that the PARC had developed in the case of the high efficiency irrigation system. High sounding words, with contrary actions, on the ground. The high cost and the sifting off and siphoning off costs were immense. The highest in the sector was involved. Unless Pakistan pulls its weight in the right direction, things would not improve. What is that right direction? Simply stated, it is where the many benefit at the expense of the few, and not vice versa. The reality of the situation has to be dealt with and policies like those of Warren Hastings cannot be perpetuated ad infinitum.
Venture capital is required and certain weaknesses and the gaps in knowledge have to be filled at whatever cost. The requirement of a process engineer has been felt by me for a long time. Why? Because one firmly believes that the matter is one of critical importance if the commodities have to be converted to products. That also means that the primary requirement ought to be of our farmers and not of the farmers of other lands. So far the policies have been to that effect. The food MNCs and the mafia that they have created is almost sacrosanct and God help those who question their doings. Out of maize by 22 by-products can be developed but then the base has to be from within this country. Out of Hemp - a discarded and discredited plant, as many as 27 products can be developed.
Similarly one can go into bio-diesel. There is a lot of hogwash going around as to the real reason for Pakistan's development efforts. Then the question is of quality. We had a breakthrough in NARC in as much as tube rose and other kinds of eau-de-colognes were developed. There is so much to do in agriculture but what next? One thing is for sure that everything that is expensive has to give way to cheaper substitutes.
One guarantee that can be made is that the amount that they will garner from the substitute will be peanuts. Let the micro productivity spell out the future course of action. That will satisfy the macro-framework and bring back serious considerations. Inflation will remain the moot point, unless and until the waste in the system is thrown out. One may start with the fallacy that the country has jumped to conclusions. Therefore the need is to make sure that the three required frameworks operate in tandem. Productivity has to move further from a mere thought and there are no absolute arrangements.
Things will have to be flexible. Who will train the farmers - who will bear the costs and who will remain a vermin to the very end? Liberty is easy to say, but difficult to deliver. That is the game that one has to play. Give quarters and do not take any.