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'Globalisation to benefit farmers'

BS Agriculture Editor

A food policy expert has said globalisation of agricultural trade can be made to work for the benefit of the small farmers and the rural poor by suitably amending domestic policies.

Instead of giving huge subsidies, the same money, if spent on reforming and setting up infrastructure like roads and storage facilities, inputs, credit and markets, could deliver better results for the poor, said Per Pinstrup-Andersen, director of the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute.

The policies that enhance the productivity of small farms would determine whether small land-holders would gain from expanded agricultural trade opportunities, he said while delivering a lecture at the ongoing two-day South-Asia initiative conference on Economic Reforms and Food Security -- The Role of Trade and Technology.

It has been organised jointly by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and IFPRI.

Pinstrup-Andersen cautioned India against hesitating to complete the liberalisation of agricultural trade and pointed out that it might lose out on the opportunities that globalisation offered.

"Now that China has joined the World Trade Organisation and is deepening its engagement with globalisation, the risk for India may be getting left behind," he stated.

He said the improved terms of trade for agriculture after 1991 had spurred private investment in non-grain agriculture, especially in horticulture, livestock and fisheries, all of which were internationally competitive or had the potential to be so.

He praised the role played by India in the WTO negotiations on agricultural trade by bringing before the international community the issue of food and livelihood security.

The new technology can contribute substantially to ensuring food security for the poor. It could bring down production costs to ensure better marketing and income for producers.

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