Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone from the US, Subramanian, an acclaimed economist, said that most of his recommendations in the report were yet to be implemented. “But now when the issue again needs attention and farmers are protesting, pulses can be one crucial component of ushering diversification in Punjab. The report is still relevant but for its proper implementation, there has to be cooperative and constructive federalism. Both Centre and state governments need to come together for it,” said Subramanian.

The report was submitted after the Centre had constituted a committee headed by Subramanian to “review the MSP and related policies to incentivize the cultivation of pulses and to address the policy issues”.

The report was submitted after the Centre had constituted a committee headed by Subramanian to “review the MSP and related policies to incentivize the cultivation of pulses and to address the policy issues”.

The report – after studying the pulses cultivation patterns in several states, including Punjab – had concluded that offering better incentives and higher MSPs for growing pulses would not only benefit farmers but also increase domestic productivity and prevent price spikes for general consumers.

“It is the strong view of this report that enhancing domestic productivity and production of pulses rapidly and sustainably is the only reliable way of minimizing volatility in pulses market, and safeguarding the interests of farmers and consumers…Short-term actions that apparently benefit consumers end up hurting them because production and availability of pulses decline over time. In turn, better incentives for farmers in the form of higher MSPs (to reflect the true social value of growing pulses compared to other crops) combined with effective procurement offers the best way of increasing domestic availability and preventing price spikes,” the report said.

Adding that the government must ensure that procurement of pulses should be stepped up immediately, the report further said, “The current crisis (volatility in acreage, production and prices of pulses) offers a rare opportunity to show that government intervention, especially procurement, can be effective beyond rice and wheat. It is also a rare opportunity for pulses to get the policy attention it deserves. To this end, especially as prices decline, government procurement must be on war footing.”

Among some important and long-term recommendations made by the committee to make pulses cultivation a profitable venture for farmers, were: building stock of pulses with targets for individual pulses, giving production subsidies to farmers for growing pulses in irrigated areas, eliminating expeditious approvals to develop new varieties of pulses, among others.

‘MSP policy must reward growing of pulses’

“Scientists have suggested that tur (arhar dal) can also potentially be grown in the irrigated areas of Punjab…,” said the report.

Commenting on Punjab’s environmental degradation due to paddy cultivation, the report said: “Given the experience with the over-use of inputs in north-west India, and the resulting drop in the water table, the increased incidence of disease and erosion of soil quality, and deterioration of the environment (especially from burning of rice straws), it is imperative that government agricultural policy reflect these externalities.”

“Pulses use less water and less fertilizer and emit less greenhouse gases than most competing crops; in addition, they help fix nitrogen which replenishes soil nutrients, conferring a positive social externality. As argued by Professor Ramesh Chand (Member, NITI Aayog, also PhD in agri economics) and the Economic Survey (2015-16), MSP policy must reward the growing of pulses and disincentivize that of rice, wheat and cotton,” it added.

Comparing the cultivation of paddy and tur dal (arhar) in Punjab, the report said that while the paddy offered much higher returns in terms of money for farmers, it also brought along several “negative externalities” such as “burning of paddy husks post-harvest which contributes to air quality deterioration”.

“To make tur competitive with paddy in Punjab, MSP for pulses needs to be higher but might be difficult to implement,” said the report. “First, pulses production must be incentivized in the irrigated areas of Punjab… some reduction in paddy production in Punjab is socially desirable: paddy stocks are high and paddy cultivation has large negative externalities,” it added.

‘Shifting to pulses requires effort from Centre & state’

Subramanian further told The Indian Express that “for any of such reforms to be implemented, such as this report, we need cooperative federalism”.

“It cannot be either the Centre or the state alone. Both have to come together. It is very difficult for farmers in Punjab to leave highly profitable paddy and adopt pulses unless there are extremely high returns,” he said.

“Paddy growers get several types of subsidies, including water, power and even fertilizers. First these need to be rationalized. The money saved from these can then be used for giving income support subsidies, especially to small and medium farmers. For Punjab, growing paddy is so profitable that it is really difficult (to shift to pulses). So either you reduce returns from other crops or give extremely high MSP/subsidies for pulses which, of course, is difficult to implement as well. It is necessary to stop free water and power to reduce paddy but it is very hard to implement what is right,” said Subramanian.

“Legalized MSP for all crops is impractical. We need to give income support subsidies to farmers. To save water, any diversification is welcome and pulses are one crucial component. But both Centre and state need to come together,” he added.