By: Dr Sanjay Parva
Kashmir’s farmer grows the apple, but someone else eats the pie.
While Jammu & Kashmir’s agriculture and allied departments guzzle over Rs 5,000 crore annually – from salaries, seminars, vehicles, workshops, to “exposure tours” – the farmer is left chasing cold chains that don’t exist and markets that don’t respond.
Here are 10 brutally honest arguments why this structure is not just broken – it is bankrupting Jammu-Kashmir’s future.
1. 8 Departments, 0 Coordination
Well, we have already taken this up in the previous article.
2. But Salaries Swallow the Budget
Over 70–75% of departmental expenditure goes into salaries, office maintenance, and administrative overheads. Actual capital spent on farm-level transformation, market creation, or value addition is minimal. The system feeds its own staff more than the fields.
3. No One Is Measured by Farmer Profitability
Not one officer or department is evaluated on “Did the farmer earn more this year?”. Success is counted in files moved, workshops held, schemes launched – not income per kanal or post-harvest value realized. Bureaucrats retire rich; farmers remain in distress.
4. The Farmer is Invisible in Policy
Despite thousands of crores flowing through agri-budgets, no single farmer body has policy veto or priority-setting power. No Gram Sabha is consulted before shifting horticulture strategy. It’s a top-down bureaucracy that assumes it knows the soil better than the one who tills it.
5. SKUAST Produces Papers, Not Profits
SKUAST-K and SKUAST-J research rarely reaches the orchard. Farmers don’t need PhDs – they need predictive data, market insights, seed innovation, and low-cost agri-tech. Most SKUAST results gather dust in journals.
6. Extension Officers Have Vanished from the Field
Remember the “agriculture officer” who once walked the fields and advised on what to sow? He now sits behind a desk pushing files. Farmer outreach is dead. KVKs (Krishi Vigyan Kendras) are dormant in many districts. What the farmer learns today is more likely from YouTube than from the government.
7. No Incentive to Perform
A clerk who delays a PM-Kisan file or a Horticulture Officer who fails to ensure apple box quality faces no consequence. There’s no dashboard, no transparency, and no penalty for non-performance. The system is designed for job security, not service delivery.
8. Investment Goes to Infrastructure, Not Innovation
Millions are spent on unrelated things, mandis, procurement yards – but many remain underutilized or inaccessible to small farmers. Meanwhile, agri-tech startups, women-led FPOs, or market-disrupting apps are underfunded or unknown to the system. The old world gets the money. The new world gets ignored.
9. “Holistic Agriculture Development” Is Just a Slogan Without Execution
The Rs 5,000+ crore HADP (Holistic Agriculture Development Programme) promised a transformation. But who monitors implementation? Where is the district-wise performance dashboard? How many youth trained under it actually became agri-entrepreneurs? We have slogans and plans, but not real, ground-level disruption.
10. No One Talks About ROI on Governance
If any department consumes Rs 500 crore annually, how much GVA does it generate? If Rs 10 crore is spent on apple promotion, how much did apple farmers earn above baseline? Governance must now answer not just what it did, but what it delivered per rupee.
To say that Jammu and Kashmir has its own sets of problems is just an excuse. If we have problems, so had these top 5 nations that have built robust, agriculture-driven economies through innovation, farmer-first governance, and strategic reforms.
1. Netherlands – Small Land, Giant Output
• Size: 33 percent less than Jammu-Kashmir size.
• Yet: World’s 2nd-largest exporter of agricultural products (after the USA).
• How?:
• Precision farming using AI, sensors, and climate-controlled greenhouses.
• Public-private synergy: Wageningen University + agri-tech corporates = constant innovation.
• Empowered farmers with cooperatives that handle processing, branding, and exports.
2. Brazil – From Food Importer to Global Agri Giant
• Past: Imported food until the 1970s.
• Now: Leading exporter of soybeans, beef, sugarcane, and coffee.
• How?:
• Created EMBRAPA, a government agri-research powerhouse focused solely on profitability.
• Massive public investment in logistics (rural roads, cold chains).
• Export-oriented mindset with trade diplomacy tied to agriculture.
3. Israel – Farming in the Desert
• Land: 60% desert, water-scarce.
• Yet: World leader in drip irrigation, hydroponics, and crop R&D.
• How?:
• Moshav and Kibbutz models – collective farming + shared profits.
• Export-focused agri-industries (e.g., tomatoes, citrus, flowers).
• State-backed agri-tech innovation incubators.
4. Vietnam – Small Farmers, Big Growth
• Sector: 40% of Vietnam’s workforce in agriculture.
• Exports: Among top global exporters of rice, coffee, pepper, and seafood.
• How?:
• Heavy investment in rural electrification and farmer training.
• Shifted from collectivism to market-oriented family farming.
• Enabled farmer cooperatives to access loans, tech, and global buyers.
5. Ethiopia – Africa’s Agrarian Rising Star
• GDP Share: Over 35% from agriculture.
• Transformation: From food crisis to export-led horticulture & floriculture hub.
• How?:
• Developed Agro-Industrial Parks with international funding.
• Focused on cut flower exports, now among top exporters globally.
• Public-private collaboration and strong extension services.
Conclusion: Shut Down the Circus or Fix the System
It’s time we stop feeding a bureaucratic monster that produces nothing but reports. Merge departments. Appoint domain experts. Build a result-driven, not rule-driven agricultural structure. Kashmir doesn’t need more government in agriculture. It needs better government for agriculture. Because at the end of the day – you can’t eat a shikara.
An author, a communications strategist, Dr Sanjay Parva was a debut contestant in J&K Assembly elections in 2024. Views expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect Ziraat Times’ editorial view.
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