As a farmer, I am often amazed at the illiterate pronouncements about paddy farming in this country being made by various people.

It is no secret that a vast acreage of rice fields are lying fallow even after the introduction of a substantial subsidy on imported fertiliser. Frantic efforts are being made to re-asweddumise land which has remained abandoned for decades.

Ask any rice farmer what his basic requirement is. He will no doubt indicate the absolute necessity of a reliable and adequate water supply.

With increasing urbanisation, the necessity to find jobs for the young, the almost non-existence of political representatives in the Provincial and National legislatures with farming backgrounds - and a host of other reasons agricultural infrastructure has been put on the back burner for well nigh 20 years. A proper investigation of canals and old irrigation systems will bear me out.

Much is made of the subsidy on fertiliser. Ideally, if the irrigation systems work efficiently and the farmer is allowed to market his grain at a reasonable profit, no subsidies will be necessary. This scenario however does not prevail anywhere in the world. The reason being that consumers need to have their staple food at an affordable price. The end result being the necessity to subsidise the producer. But governments have to find the wherewithal to fund those subsidies. At that point, everybody pays.

Additionally, rice farmers in this country are threatened by all governments with tons of imported grain if prices rise above customer expectations. In spite of these impediments, paddy growers still go on as that is their chosen livelihood. It is left to the governing authority to maintain the over all irrigation infrastructure in good order.

Without a reliable and adequate irrigation system, no amount of subsidies will help feed the people.