2011-12employment data of Nagaland shows that 61% of the work force is engaged in agriculture. These data have to be taken with a grain of salt in that not everyone who claims to be a farmer isn’t necessarily a full-time farmer but since farming is the most visible form of his employment, he regards himself a farmer even though he may earn more from other forms of employment. These are petty commodity producers who are engaged in multiple forms of employment – manning small shops, engaged in weaving, carpentry, rearing animals, metal fabrication, driving taxis and so on. A person may even be engaged in two or three of these works. This is true of small time producers in other parts of the country. Sincecalling himself a farmer doesn’t capture the multiple employments a person is engaged in, there are recent voice among academic circles in mainstream India calling out for the capturing of this trend under the term ‘Livelihood’ so that the proportion of population engaged in multiple employments can be reflected in data collected by the government. This discussion however, doesn’t belie the fact that majority of the population in Nagaland is dependent in a big way on agriculture.
A long term development trajectory of countries show that countries move slowly from the agriculture sector to the industrial sector and then to the service sector. Our state skipped the industrial development stage, jumping from the agricultural sector to the service sector without even developing the agricultural sector. This has the undesired effect of not only the irony of insufficiency of food in the state but also unemployment as there is lack of absorption of workers in the industrial sector. We thus have a dual economy – an undeveloped agricultural sector with a thriving service sector.
When this development enigma of the state is presented, often, the lack of industries is bemoaned. Such a view subscribes that the state cannot come out of the economic doldrum on its own. The oft repeated frustration is “The state doesn’t have industries to absorb the educated unemployed. Industrial houses are not willing to invest in Nagaland because of Naga Political problem. Nothing can be done.” Institutional apathy in Nagaland is one area where the state need reforms, big time. However, focusing on big industrial investment in the state for development is wishing for something that is unlikely to happen in the near future simply because the state doesn’t have proper infrastructural and institutional make up. This is where the need for focusing on the internal resources of the state arises.
The state has a high ratio of land-person per capita. It is amongst the highest in the country. The land is owned by each family without the need for land leasing and rent which accounts for a huge cost to the farmers in other parts of the country. The land is mostly forest land with little waste land, almost all areas being arable. The state can thus go for commercial agriculture. Food grain cultivation has occupied the largest amount of land in agriculture over the years. It occupied more than 90% of total land area cultivated in 1960 which has fallen to 75% in 2012. The sad reality of agriculture in Nagaland is that the 75% of cultivated land used for food grain production does not lead to self-sufficiency as mentioned earlier and while more area of land is been used for commercial crops, its growth rate has seen a negative growth rate. This calls for a serious reassessment of what the state should produce.
Should the state focus on food grain self-sufficiency? Or should it put more focus on commercial crops? Or rather still, should the state forego an agricultural model of development all together? Of all the three, the third option is the least realistic. The state simply cannot forego agriculture. The first option, that of self-sufficiency in food grains is a vision of the state government – which of course, may be just a vision like many of its visions. There are also calls from certain intellectual circle for self-sufficiency. However, the comparative cost of food grains in Nagaland is simply worse than the other states and it cannot compete with them. The state with hilly terrains and warm-to-temperate climate cannot match the other states whose topography is flat, has good source of irrigation and has a hot climate, suiting food grain production. The average cost difference is such that it is better for the farmers in Nagaland to focus on other agricultural products instead of putting the maximum effort on food grains production where it can be easily imported from other states at lower costs. The effort used for producing rice can then be focused on producing crops for the market. There are commercial crops which better suits the other states but there are certainly crops which suits the state better.
We are familiar with the orange orchards of Wokha, the cabbage and other vegetables of Pfutsero, the Pineapples of Medziphema, the Raja Mirchasof Jalukie, the potatoes of Khuzama and Viswema and so on. The idea is to make these plantations bigger and more productive. Yet, the focus is not only on them. Apart from the mentioned places with their specializations, each part of the state has fruits and vegetables which can be grown in plenty – apples, peach, pear, bananas, guavas, papayas, beans, gingers, chillies, and so on. There are fruit plantations which need massive investments at the initial stage and give result after many years e.g. mangos, but there are also fruit and vegetable plantations which require less investments initially but require constant care e.g. bananas and any type of vegetables.
However, not requiring big investments on the plantations themselves doesn’t mean that investments are not needed. For one, the lack of storage facilities and the non-functioning of the existing facilities have often been bemoaned. For a successful agricultural sector model to flourish, proper storage facilities are needed. Since, we are talking about the whole state been converted to a big plantation zone, the state will require much more storage facilities. Proper road infrastructure is also needed. Gone should be the days when people carry their fruit and vegetable products on their backs over long distances. Huge amount of fruit and vegetable products call for swift transportation through goods-carrying vehicles. There is also the very important task of setting up proper institutional mechanisms. Farmers themselves will not be able to search the market. Thus, there needs to be people/institutions which procures them at higher than the production cost and search the market. Closely related is the need for finding markets. Things have not worked out really well in the past. It is still in people’s memory how the state government encouraged the cultivation of gingers and people produced huge amounts of gingers in Chozuba area and had to sell them at a few rupees per kilogram whereas a kilogram of ginger in Kohima and Dimapur was been sold for around Rs. 50. The assault on a prominent Phek businessman after he brought vegetables to Dimapur from his native place was a real shocker. The first incident occurred because the farmers were not able to transport their products to places with better markets and the government failed in its promise to procure those excess gingers. It effectively destroyed the people’s faith in such an agreement. The second incident occurred due to the feared syndicate system. Fixing both of them are tough jobs which the government no doubt has to do – earning the trust of the people and doing what it needs to do. Since goods flow to markets where there is higher price, once there is production in bulk, exports to other states should be a reality. Equally important are crop insurance and minimum procurement price on the part of the government. The last but the most important is changing the mind of the farmers to move from a subsistence based agricultural system based on the cultivation of rice and food grains to a more commercial based farming. This can only be achieved however,only if the farmers are convinced that all their products will be sold at a proper price. All the requirements like proper storage facilities, proper roads, market availability, crop insurance and minimum procurement thus have to be in place.
An Assamese friend who works as a security guard at University of Hyderabad sends his earning home which is barely enough for the family. However, every year, the family has been earning around Rs 50 thousand from their tea garden and from their mustard field for the last three years. There is not much work in these tea gardens or the mustard fields – only some investments in the mustard field at the beginning of each year and one-time plantation in the tea gardens following which after 4 years, the tea leaves are ready to be plucked for more than 20 years.The best thing is that the family receives the money in bulk. The family is then able to lend the money on interest to supplement their income. That is what commercial agriculture can do.
With a big market in the country and with fruits and vegetables inflation every year, farmers have every reason to take up agriculture seriously.
Chothazo Nienu, University of Hyderabad
