Quality and productivity revolution in agriculture

Over much of the last five decades the world's attention has shifted from it's obsession with volumes in manufacturing towards quality and productivity. And though there has been some movement towards discovering and delivering greater quality of services especially in the west, in general there has been a proliferation of different kinds of services accessible to an ever larger set of people with ever falling standards of service quality (at least that's the experience we have here in India).

But unlike services the consumption of which is discretionary, the obsession with volume in agriculture is leading us towards very serious crisis the world over. Agriculture must move NOW towards productivity and quality (away from the stupid obsession with volumes).

An estimated Rs 56,000 crores worth of agricultural produce is being lost to waste due to improper storage and transportation. Add to this the depletion of assets such as wells (dues to falling water tables) resulting from overuse of ground water. Add to this the waste (not subsidy) at the fertilizer plants (and in the subsequent distribution chain). Add to this the loss from depletion of soil nutrients. Add to this the waste (and corruption) in building irrigation projects. The list goes on and on.

There is an urgent need to apply principles of good management to agriculture. Price discovery, value addition, market access, efficiency, efficacy, asset creation, sustainability, yield, value and so on. This is the direction agriculture WILL have to take.

The question is who will be the pioneers in applying these principles to agriculture? What will be 'that' which triggers this change?

There are three possible ways in which this change could happen-

1. Government policies on agriculture and related sectors driven by public opinion

2. Engagement of the retail and food businesses with the farms driven by consumer preferences

3. Community driven initiatives driven by wider awareness