Economic returns shrinking on agricultural use
India finds itself in a piquant situation. While its population, and with it the number of poor, is growing, its cultivable land is not only shrinking, more worryingly, the economic returns of the agricultural use are diminishing vis-a-vis non-agricultural use.
The situation may not be alarming right now, but if it continues, India will soon face a threat to its food security. This threat emanates from two developments. One, India may already have run out of non-cultivable land to meet its needs for industrialisation and urbanisation. This has provoked a section of the government, social activists, farmers and other stakeholders to argue that industry be shifted to wastelands or deserts to save agricultural land.
Industry, like agriculture, needs inputs such as water and labour, which come at a huge cost in barren or wasteland. Are we willing to pay higher costs for our manufactured products? Probably not, because this creates a threat from cheaper imports and brings about a slow death of our manufacturing.
The government needs to look into the matter immediately which is worrying the economic returns.
Source: The Financial Express
