Kabindra Pradhan's comments "Do we need a Ministry of Agriculture?" (#51) could be true about every other ministry. There is no sector left untouched in this country by this virus. But agriculture investment has fed our growing population, even though fiscal investment in this sector is not in proportion to GDP contribution. Agriculture production is not just land expansion, it is crop productivity, crop diversification, commercialisation, entrepreneurship, industry and export earnings. The ministry is not responsible for all these. Rather, it is a change of factors over years: technologies and services, strong political will, resource allocation, institutional makeup, inherited social making and (let's not forget) nature itself. Every other ministry is similarly buffeted by the conflicting demands of donors, politicians or bureaucrats. If we don't need a Ministry of Agriculture then we don't need any other ministry either.

Kishore Sherchand
Lazimpat