US president Barack Obama’s take on Indo-US agricultural cooperation may have gladdened the hearts of US agro-companies, but has evoked apprehension in the Indian farmers. On Day 1 of his visit, he explicitly declared that the US saw India as a “market”. And India’s agriculture sector represents the biggest potential market for seeds, pesticides, machinery and other agro-inputs.

In subsequent statements, he spoke the language of US corporate interests, pushing for (i) lowering barriers to foreign direct investment (ii) opening up markets and eschewing protectionism and (iii) an “evergreen revolution” based on US research and technology inputs.  The joint statement released at the end of the visit speaks of an agreement to “develop, test, and replicate transformative technologies” in agriculture, with a view to improving productivity and arresting post-harvest crop losses.

Given the Indian farmers’ past experience with US intervention in the agriculture sector, each of these bears careful examination.

Foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, ostensibly intended to benefit farmers by eliminating intermediaries, is already in the pipeline and Obama’s pitch may well give it the last push it needs. This will benefit Walmart, Carrefour and other chains battening insistently on India’s doors.  Studies have shown that nowhere in the world has “big retail” helped farmers.

Obama made his pitch despite Walmart’s controversial reputation in the US itself, where it has attracted flak for disrupting localized economies by putting small stores out of business, retailing “sweatshop” products, poor labour relations, etc. 

Nor is the letter of law being followed in India; excise and taxation officials in Punjab reportedly found that Best Price, a joint venture between Bharti and Walmart was violating both central and state government norms by retailing under the guise of wholesaling. Interestingly, Walmart was the official US representative on the board of the Indo-US joint initiative on agriculture!

Obama’s speech also puts pressure on India to dilute its stand on the Doha Round and do away with non-tariff barriers on agricultural imports. So far, India has been firm on the issue of trade-distorting farm subsidies in the US and Europe, but there are fears that its resolve may now weaken.

Significantly, Obama appropriated the phrase “evergreen revolution”, seeking to impart an aura of sustainability to the most unsustainable system of agriculture ever devised. The Indo-US joint initiative which has set the agenda for the Indian agro-sector since 2006, had as its goal the “second green revolution”. But with yields falling and ecological havoc, the green revolution itself is becoming virtually impossible to defend.

Obama made a manful effort to do so, by praising India for adopting hi-tech approaches to agriculture – based on US-manufactured pesticides, fertilizers, seeds and machinery. He also emphasized use of “transformative technologies”. This presumably refers to genetically modified crops – a key element in the agenda of US agro-companies. Ironically, first lady Michelle Obama is said to be a votary of organic foods!

The stage was set for US penetration of the agro-sector long before Obama arrived. The Indo-US agreement of 2006 was followed by an MoU earlier this year, enabling US agri-companies to access not only India’s gene banks but its vast research infrastructure.

A case in point is the recent MoU between the government of Rajasthan and agro-giant Monsanto, permitting the MNC to use state land, personnel and infrastructure to develop, produce and sell its hybrid seeds – thereby driving everyone else out of the market and making farmers dependent on multi-national seed companies.

The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill is intended to facilitate the introduction of GM crops in India. The Pesticides Bill and Seed Bill, likely to be passed in the winter session of parliament, will help in creating a friendly environment for US agro-companies. The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, in its current avatar, is pro-industry in the extreme. India’s policy framework is gradually being rejigged to suit the interests of US agro-business.

A consummate salesman, Obama promised freebies - in this case, hi-tech weather forecasting systems. It is not clear whether this technology transfer is free of cost, how it will improve on the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)’s block-level weather forecasts and just how useful it is in a country where agriculture is largely rain-fed (and therefore has little to do with irrigation schedules).

The fact is that there is no common ground between US and Indian agriculture. The former is a totally mechanized, chemical- and water-intensive system based on economies of scale, where holdings typically run into tens of thousands of hectares and the farming population is miniscule. In India, holdings are tiny and farmers comprise the bulk of the population, capital is scarce and agriculture is rain-fed.

The introduction of US agricultural technologies have so far not benefited the bulk of Indian farmers – two lakh farmers’ suicides bear testimony to this fact. A handful of farmers cashed in on the green revolution, the rest suffered as a consequence.  Even India’s first GM crop – Bt Cotton – ultimately did not stand the test of time.

As for Obama’s pride in the US being a “leader in agricultural productivity”, per hectare wheat yields in India are higher than those in the US!