The Death Knell of Agriculture in Kashmir

By Irfan Khadim
It is really very alarming that not only we are being the worst victims of conflict, being killed or imprisoned for our fundamental rights or basic rights, the right of freedom of speech and expression, the right of freedom of self determination but at the same time we are losing our primary occupation-agriculture. Agriculture is the only sector that helps  conflict countries to sustain even in the worst hits of war. We should not forget that Kashmir is a  long pending dispute between the two nations, India and Pakistan and, at the same time,  let we not forget that we live not in the times of swords and bows and arrows but we are trapped between nuclear countries. We should be ready to sustain even in the times of induced famines. We should have self stocks of agriculture production. It is true that in the nuclear world , as much as nuclear power is important, equally or even more important it is the availability of food and water. But unfortunately we don’t care. If,  for the time being there is a nuclear war, we may be the worst hits from the attacking side but we should not die by our own faults and foibles
Agriculture contributes around 27% to the J&K state’s economy. Almost 70% of its population is dependent on agriculture and about 49% of the working class is engaged in it. Production of food grains and fruits has increased considerably with the implementation of planned development in the state during 1951-56. The state economy has shown a vibrant growth path during the recent years. The state has grown around 6% between FY2004 and FY2008 and an average growth rate of about 1.8% in the agriculture sector between FY 2003-FY2008 as per a report prepared by PHD chamber of commerce and industry New Delhi.
The state is ranked 15th in the agriculture, however, the progress of industrialization and its consequent processes of urbanization, modernization and advancement has stabilized our economy but this all happened at the cost of our environment. We have transformed our farms into shopping complexes, army base camps and industries. We have transformed the agriculture land into the residential colonies without thinking about the impact it would have.
According to the 8th Census Report of Revenue Department,  9.62 lakh hectares of land was under operation for agriculture purpose. Similarly,  the contribution of agriculture has shown a declining trend since 1970-71 when it was 56.64 %, in 1980-81 it declined to 47.40%, in 2000-01 to 32.58%, and by 2010-11 it has reached 19.36%. It is continuously in the declining phase and year by year reducing to a one digit percentage.
The report also states that Saffron production during 1997 was 40 tonnes spread over 5400 hectares. The production in 2010-11 has declined to just 6 tonnes and land under saffron cultivation has shrunk to 3000 hectares only.
In and around Pampore,  almost 230 villages are growing saffron, on an average producing 2,128 kilograms every year. Saffron is the second leading agricultural activity carried out in the state after apple cultivation.   According to the government agriculture department, the production of this labour-intensive crop totaled 40 tonnes a year in the early 1990s but now has slumped to just six tonnes annually.
It is more shocking to see the shrinking of agricultural land in the state especially when one travels from Anantnag to Srinagar, Budgam to Srinagar and Ganderbal to Srinagar. Thousands of houses, commercial buildings and educational institutions have come up on saffron and paddy lands on both sides National Highway.
It is the fact that much of the fertile land in state is being either brought under construction purposes or conversion of paddy lands to horticulture; district Kulgam which once used to be called as rice bowl of Kashmir, is now the among the least producers of rice.
Now farmers are less interested in agricultural activities because the cost of cultivation has increased by 5 to 10 times in terms of cost of seed, labour, chemicals and fertilizers whereas remuneration of agricultural products is almost static, there in least profitability in cultivation.
The stone crushers that have come up on agricultural and horticultural land in different parts of Kashmir have reduced the crop production. Howeve, r as per the norms set by the Pollution Control Board (PCB)  for the establishment of any industrial unit or factory emitting smoke, clearly say that these units should only be set up 50 meters away from agriculture or horticulture land and should be at least 750 meters away from the residential area.
But owners of the brick kilns and crushers are violating and playing with the court orders while the administration is acting as a mute spectator. The poor peasants who don’t have any other source of income were made to suffer, as the stone crushers damage fields, thus affecting the crop production. The establishment of railways has also left many families bereft of paddy fields, which was the only source of earning for them. This project of railway has engulfed many thousands of acres of fertile land and thus reduced the output production of rice in the state.
The state of  Jammu and Kashmir has miserably failed to increase net-sown area, cropped area, as well as annual growth rate of crops despite tremendous development in  technology  since the year 1962.  Now,  the use of technology has increased many times to what it was in 1962 when the first survey was conducted by the planning commission of India in 1962. In India, J&K is the worst performing states in terms of increasing profitability in the field of agriculture which is regarded as main indicator of an emerging economy. No doubt irrigation is one of the major component of increasing fertility and productivity of a land in the state.
The report in the Economic Survey states that the production of food grains in the state has not kept pace with the requirements, as the agriculture sector faces challenges on various fronts. “Yield of principal crops, rice, maize and wheat are not significantly improving over the years. The national average of seed replacement rate has been above 25 percent while the state of Jammu and Kashmir it is yet to surpass 15 per cent of seed replacement rate (SRR)”,  the survey has revealed.
According to the latest report prepared by chamber of Commerce and Industry, the state faces massive deficit in food (rice) 40%, oilseeds 70% and vegetables 30%.
The government needs to take serious steps for revival of primary sector as more than thirty lac people, in J&K state, are involved in agricultural and allied activities. The government should also take measures to check out the level of urbanization; our fertile land being converted into construction purpose and should ban all the unregistered factories and industries (brick kilns and stone crushers), that are damaging agricultural land. , Furthermore, a lot more needs to be done to improve the income levels of the farmers in the state as the per capita income of the state is among the lowest in the region. And,  if we grow continuously losing our agricultural production, then there will be a huge question mark on our survival.

—The writer is the author of the book, ‘’Not A Lie, Escaped The world Peace’’. He can be reached at [email protected]