The twilight zone of Indian agriculture: birthing and execution of integrated agriculture

Abstract

This paper chalks out the trajectory of the Public Private Partnership for Integrated Agriculture Development (PPIAD), a policy platform which was conceived by global conglomerates and specific Southern government representatives and NGOs. In our view, PPPIAD decisively paved the way for corporate-led policymaking within the farm economy. We outline certain specific budgetary processes and directional changes within the agricultural research management system which created the necessary vacuum for emergence of a new leadership from the maturing forces of corporate globalization. Vast parts of the farm economy are yet untouched by PPPIAD, but the potential of the policy platform is enormous, given the fact that the target population of participants is small and marginal farmers. With over 80% of farm holdings being small and marginal, it would be interesting to observe how this policy spreads new kinds of production models, which are led by aggregators at one end, and an army of small and marginal farmers at the other end. Within this new model, the government’s role is that of a distant bystander, as a lot of room is made available to the corporate entity to design and execute the projects, while the recruited small and marginal farmers have little room to manoeuvre. We end the paper with some optimistic speculations regarding the possibility of emergence of genuine FPO managed supply chains