The mindset barrier to Assam’s self-reliance

The spike in prices of edible oil has put the spotlight on the remarkable incongruity of Assam being perpetually dependent on its kitchen essentials despite the state being an agrarian state endowed with fertile soil and an abundance of water resources. The blame is often put on the gap in policy planning and not prioritising oilseed farming, but the failure of the indigenous farm households, particularly the youth, to tap the huge market of edible oil is often overlooked. Cultivation of mustard oil ensures good returns, yet the area under it is not expanding and milling infrastructure is not increasing to cater to the growing demand. This highlights persistent inertia among Assamese farmers and youth to reimagine agriculture as a viable business opportunity instead of looking at it as a traditional practice for subsistence. Romanticising the seasonal bloom of golden yellow mustard fields does little to address the demand and supply gap if the commercial potential of it remains unrecognised. Assamese youth must step out of their comfort zones and stop chasing comfortable desk jobs and instead avail themselves of the benefits of various government schemes and programmes to transform their traditional household farming into an integrated, profitable farming and business enterprise through value addition. Most farmers are hesitant to expand the area under mustard cultivation on the ground of non-remunerative prices but fail to recognise the additional income from milling to get good returns on their investment. The state government announcing a special Minimum Support Price that includes an additional amount from its exchequer over the MSP fixed by the Central government has assured mustard procurement at remunerative prices. Farmers depending on MSP to sustain them is reflective of a tendency to resist coming out of their comfort zones. Unless they build their own resilience by tapping on the market, the MSP alone will not motivate them to expand the area under mustard and boost production, nor will it transform the agriculture sector from subsistence farming to profitable business enterprise. There was a time when the market of agricultural commoditieswas small in the state, as the proportion of people with disposable income was also quite low due to slow economic growth. With economic growth, the disposable income of people has increased, facilitating the growth of food businesses and the opening of new hotels and restaurants, while the fast-changing dining culture is raising demand for kitchen essentials, including edible oil as a cooking medium, both in private households in urban and semi-urban areas and in commercial kitchens. Policies were framed to boost mustard cultivation, but the policies fell short on reorienting farming practice to match rapidly changing economic growth and demand fuelled by growth in disposable income in the state. With the growth of disposables being urban-centric, the increase in demand was for processed food items among consumers who had nothing to do with the unprocessed agricultural commodities, except fruits and vegetables. Failure to notice the market-orientated growth in demand of processed food in urban Assam, which requires food processing units to produce and suppliers to deliver the products at the retail outlets, meant the focus in state agriculture primarily remained confined to growing more paddy. The establishment of more processing units backed by efficient supply chains to stock retail shelves is critical to bring about the required change. Some processing units have come up in the state, but the share of Assamese youth initiating such business enterprises is quite small. Ironically, connectivity across the state has significantly improved, and transporting the finished goods is no longer a big challenge for any food processing units set up away from Guwahati and other urban markets. A lot of incentives are available under various government schemes and projects, which makes procurement of machinery and equipment much easier than before, and marketing has also become challenging. The spread of digital technology, the creation of online marketing platforms, access to e-commerce businesses, and the establishment of the packaging industry have already created a favourable ecosystem for business enterprises. When farming activity is extended to food processing enterprises, it not only boosts the household income of the farm families but also creates many livelihoods and employment opportunities across the business and supply chain from the farm to the retail outlets. Sadly, Assamese youth have failed to grasp this enormous potential for self-employment and enterprise creation through participation in the entire business and supply chain. They are reluctant to pick up the work of loading and unloading work, which involves hard physical labour, and often prefer low-paying gig work or a security guard position. This mindset problem creates a hurdle for enterprising youth who are keen to invest in a business enterprise to tap on the potential of surplus production of mustard seeds or other agricultural products, as he or she fails to get the required workforce to sustain and expand the business enterprise. Without a change in this mindset of Assamese youth, the state cannot hope to end its dependence on external supply of kitchen essentials, including edible oil.