The summit meeting of the SAARC Member Countries was this time going to be convened in Dhaka (Bangladesh) in January 2005. But had to be postponed due to the widespread disaster in the S.Asian countries. The Pakistan prime minister was expected to make his maiden speech therein. The South Asian Association Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is still another regional effort, made some two decades ago, for forging cooperation in various areas, economic, social, scientific and cultural and human behaviour for the common benefit of member nations. Countries joining hands in this regard include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
However a beginning has already been made to develop a common approach by the SAARC countries in different fields of human activities. In some fields considerable headway has been made, in others spade work is in offing and in still others serious thought is being given to identify specifics for attaining the desired goals among SAARC countries. In the economic field, agricultural cooperation deserves top priority since all of these countries are basically agricultural in their nature.
Although in the past some steps were planned and taken they could not prove to be fully effective because of their lopsidedness.
Now there is no time left to take things easy in this regard. Along with making mutual cooperation among SAARC Nations, consideration may be given to accord the most favoured status (MFS) to one another so that development in various areas of agriculture may be brought about particularly in farm trade. Among (7) SAARC countries only India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are comparatively more developed in agriculture than others. These three countries may give generous treatment to develop trade in agricultural items to other less developed countries, no doubt, not at the cost of their foreign trade relations with their other traditional trading partners on the global level.
How and to what extent this cooperation or common approach can be achieved is a big question to which a convincing reply must be sought by the summit conference to be held at Dacca. In the opinion of this author a beginning may be made by conducting an in-depth study on the agricultural and livestock products by the SAARC countries.
It is a common knowledge that almost all the Saarc countries produce nearly all the important food and fibre commodities in varying volumes. Cereals (wheat, rice barley, maize, millet and pulses) and vegetables (potatoe and onion) fruits and sugarcane (sugar).
While tea production is mainly confined to India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, jute cultivation is concentrated in India, Bangladesh and Nepal and that of cotton in Pakistan, India and to some extent in Sri Lanka.
An overview of the agricultural production thus reveals that among the SAARC member countries only India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are of importance from the point of view of farm production.
LIVESTOCK: Livestock and its products are produced in varying degrees in all the Saarc countries but as in the case of farm commodities only India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are the main producers of livestock and its products. Besides live animals (cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats and chicken) the main products include raw wool hides, skin and casings.
SUGGESTIONS: For achieving the objective of greater cooperation of the agri sector, it is proposed that a four member commission of experts, one each from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, may be constituted at the forthcoming session to be held in Dhaka in January 2005. The term of the commission in the first instance may include the conducting of a production survey in the member countries to find out the exact production pattern of commodities and the products produced, technologies used for the purpose, various inputs applied, costs and finally the cost benefit ratio.
As a result of this survey the countries which are found to the best producers of certain commodities, may be called upon to assist the less developed countries to produce specified commodities with equal advantage depending on their ecological and climatic conditions.
Alternatively, the best producers, having comparative advantage of production and producing in excess of their domestic requirements may be persuaded to offer their surplus production for sale in the first instance to the needy Saarc countries in preference to non-Saarc countries.
In this way, a beginning may be made for creating a regional agricultural cooperation of the Saarc countries for the common interest and benefit to all the concerned. Once this is accomplished, further avenues may be sorted out for cooperation in other economic and social areas.