Editorial: More of the same

The manifestos of both Congress and BJP lack a broader vision for the future of agriculture

As the nation gears up for the Lok Sabha election, it is time to shower promises on people. Since agriculture remains the backbone of the economy, it is important to take a closer look at what the two major national parties — the BJP and the Congress — have got to offer to improve the living conditions of farmers. Even a cursory glance at the election manifestos of the two parties shows that they may be high on populism but lack a broader vision for the future of the agriculture sector. Immediate financial assistance to farmers to tide over adverse situations is fine but the governments need to put in place a long-term vision for Indian agriculture. The BJP, which had to withdraw the controversial farm laws in the past following widespread protests by farmers, promised to increase the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of crops from ‘time to time’ and provide sustained financial support for farmers through the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi’. However, the manifesto is silent on the farm laws and also on providing legal backing for the MSP policy. The saffron party clearly does not want to rock the political boat or commit to things it does not consider feasible to deliver. MSP has been mentioned six times in the BJP’s 2024 manifesto in contrast to its 2019 manifesto when it was mentioned only once. The party has not specified whether or by how much the current Rs 6,000 annual transfer to farmers under the PM-Kisan scheme will be raised

The mass protest against the farm laws was one of the most serious challenges that the NDA government had to face in the last ten years. The Congress manifesto, on the other hand, has pledged to give a legal guarantee to MSP but did not specify how it would go about it. Most economists have raised doubts over the fiscal sustainability of legal MSP. It remains to be seen how credible such a promise can be for farmers. The Congress has promised to double the funding for R&D in agriculture in five years, while the BJP has stressed on technological interventions to enable more accurate assessment of crop loss and faster pay-outs under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana. Interestingly, the BJP’s current manifesto does not mention doubling of farmers’ income, which figured at the top among the party’s farm sector promises in its 2019 manifesto. The saffron party has merely reiterated the government’s existing or proposed programmes including making India “atmanirbhar” in pulses and edible oils, establishing clusters for the production of essential TOP (tomato, onion, potato) vegetables and promoting natural farming. However, no specific strategy has been mentioned. Both the national parties have failed to present before the people a policy vision for the development of the agriculture sector. Producing more from the same or less quantity of water, nutrients and energy requires politically sensitive input pricing decisions.