Indian agriculture is ill-prepared to meet challenges from the developed countries, and pulling down of Quantitative Restrictions(QRS) next year as obligated under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime could spell doom for the farmers.
Participating in the meeting convened by the agriculture ministry to review the WTO agreements on agriculture(AOA), former agriculture minister Balram Jakhar said, “Economic colonisation of the developing countries by the developed ones is being brought about through WTO regime.”
Even as India signed WTO agreement on agriculture when Mr Jakhar was the agriculture minister, the latter painted a gory scenario where Indian farmers did not have level-playing field with their counterparts in developed countries and we will soon face dumping of agriculture produces with Indian commodities go abetting.
Other political parties leaders like Mr Balwinder Singh Bhundar, an Akali MP from Punjab, sought to remind the government that how Indian farm produce be exported when the country is yet to adopt grading, standardising, storage and processing system which are prerequisite for import-export trade of the day.
“The government had not paid due attention to the creation of required infrastructure for the purpose,” he said.
Bureau Report
