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| Sunday, 11 December 2005 |
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Elusive 50-year mirage of agriculture development Solemn Thoughts by Wendell Solomons Within a spell of 30 years of growth upward from riot-torn shacks, Singapore overtook its erstwhile colonial master Britain in national income per capita. There was Malaysia's Dr Mahathir Mohamed explaining his reasoning in Colombo in 2005. He said that when beginning his journey 22 years ago, Malaysia figured that one acre of land could support one farmer whereas if industry was chosen, that an acre of land would support 500 workers. Singapore had employed a similar idea. So had Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Just imagine the development chances Sri Lanka lost during 50 years. Learner-navigators of the ship of state were beguiled towards a mirage by the World Bank. Such was the case for the majority of small, post-Colonial nations of the world - manipulation. To Sri Lanka's learner- navigators, the bulky 1952 report of the World Bank bequeathed the mirage of development through a model 5-acre plot of land, cultivated by a farmer trailing behind cattle, pulling a wooden plough through mud. The hoax that projected from the 12th Century history was explained by MPs such as Dr N M Perera and Dr S A Wickremasinghe according to Parliamentary records. Why did mirage persist? Firstly, a joint force promoted it. Foreign loan- brokers encouraged a single family to take on the robes of local Press baron. Therefore competing reasoning was shut out of public information media. It had come in a US elite Rockefeller prescription, "Competition is a sin." Secondly, the professionally qualified among beginner legislators were lawyers whose baggage didn't contain a history of world economies. "Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just enough baggage," as Charles Dudley Warner explained. The foreign, loan-broker formula was translated by the lawyer-politicians to the voters. Newspapers steam- rolled it into their stories. Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes observed, "Simple people ... are very quick to see the live facts which are going on about them." The lawyer-politicians explained to people that to place more food on the table needed producing more food. Even primary school educated people would understand that. Others slogans such as Miracle Rice, Soya and Winged Bean came in. All this contributed to a focus on "Green Revolution" for poor country agriculture. Einstein recommended, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." Agricultural subsidies and WTO A calculation was done to study the cost of farm subsidies in Europe. It has been expressed this way - the subsidy is enough to send a dairy cow on a round-the-world cruise every year. India subsidises its farmers, and when a few voices were raised against that at the World Trade Organisation, accompanied by several other nations, India set off WTO rout by pointing to the subsidies that the US must begin farming industry at home. Regarding subsidies in Sri Lanka, Press information says they have been inadequate. They can't keep farmers who dishonour their debts from suicide. After the `Green Revolution' myth in Sri Lanka, subsidies must not only stay but even increase. Can the country afford that magnitude of subsidy? Adding value Two methods are available to increase revenue. Let us first look at the intensive use of land. The US applied 19th Century inventions to intensify wheat growing. As to its wide use, the tractor and the combine harvester began to be manufactured in the 20th century. Nitrogen fertiliser had replaced any use of compost and manure. In the US of the 1830's, five acres of land produced 100 bushels of wheat. That wheat required the expending of four labour-days (using walking plough, brush harrow, hand broadcasting of seed and harvesting by sickle.) One and a half centuries later, three acres of land produced in 1987 the equivalent 100 bushels of wheat. The 100 bushels now required expending just 2 labour-hours (using combine harvesters, tractors and so on.) A drop from four labour-days to 2 labour-hours has not been reproduced in Sri Lanka for the main reason that agriculture in the US used New World land conditions. That allowed wheat farms thousands of acres in size. For Sri Lanka's part, land under rice is fragmented by land-division for inheritance during 3,000 years. Ordinary family holdings go below half an acre and small holdings cannot support the intensified cultivation of rice. Sri Lanka has been importing rice during and after the cruel `Green Revolution.' Small land holdings, given focus, could have supported the growing of high-value aromatic and medicinal plants for pharmaceutical and fragrance producers. However, a dispersion of focus had come in 1977 by the `do-anything-to- turn-a-penny' and nihilist Open Economy prescribed by the World Bank. Today, a little publicised USAid project on Competitiveness is perched in Colombo's WTC building and discovers it must cluster industries in the island to undo loss of focus and productivity. Not being denied focus, Singapore developed an international seaport first, and then went into creating Singapore Airlines, a government corporation. Singapore, headed by a scion of the international Lee clan, next focused on high precision industrial manufacture of goods such as cameras and computer peripherals. Today Singapore has chosen to focus on bio- medicals. It has discovered that raw material need not be produced at home; processing quality and branding will bring in adequate revenue. These are the charts for the increase of the country's revenue that Sri Lanka can use to end this mirage. Comments to: [email protected]
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