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Praise has been showered on Yashwant Sinha's Budget, and deservedly so. There is much to laud and everyone has his favourite measure, but I am happiest that agriculture has finally entered the reform agenda. I am pleased because we have a comparative advantage in agriculture--something we do not enjoy in industry. By investing in agricultural reform we will get a "bigger bang for our buck" as the Americans say. The timing is good because we sit comfortably on a grain mountain, forty million tonnes high. Both domestic and international prices are down. So, no one seriously worries about food security. Agricultural reform is a big agenda and there is no point talking of globalisation or WTO when the Indian market is not free. Our farmers are victims of archaic laws that prohibit them from selling their produce freely within the country, traders face limits on how much they can buy and stock, mills face levy burdens on rice and sugar, prices are distorted by politicians. All this is incompatible with a modern, successful economy, but the biggest change we need is in our mindset. We still labour under a scarcity mentality. All our policies are aimed at achieving self-sufficiency when we achieved it 20 years ago! Year after year we produce wheat and rice surplus that piles up into a mountain for the enjoyment of rats. How can a nation be so stupid? Instead of a defensive mentality we need an offensive, exporting, "can do" attitude, which regards the WTO as an ally, not an enemy. No country became a successful agricultural power through peasant farming--this is the second mindset change. Farming is not a "noble profession"; it is agri-business. Ask any peasant--his son doesn't want to be a peasant. We must treat farmers as businesspeople. Our green revolution succeeded because we treated Punjab's farmers as capitalists. Our farms need a huge infusion of capital and technology in order to raise yields and compete globally. Peasants cannot make this investment. Neither can the government for is it bankrupt. Hence, we must free peasants to lease their lands to agri-business professionals with capital and technology. Thus, we will stage the second green revolution and become an exporter in a world economy. All our agricultural institutions are stagnant or defunct and incapable of reform--extension services, co-operatives, FCI and dozens of others. Five ministries interfere in our farmers' lives--Agriculture, Fertilisers, Water, Food, and Consumer Affairs--and there is no co-ordination, professionalism, or result orientation. It takes 6 months to import a commodity, and by then we don't need it, and 5 months to export it when prices have plunged. Hence, we need to trust the individual and the market and not the government--this is the third change. Mr. Sinha has struck a big blow for agriculture reform, not through budgetary measures, but by challenging these old mindsets. He has promised to free inter-state trading--this means he will amend the archaic Essential Commodities Act. He will lift storage and stocking curbs, which hurt farmers and diminish their incentive to produce. A 24 per cent expansion in rural credit (to Rs. 64,000 crores) is significant, especially for creating rural godowns and cold storages to boost the farmer's holding power. Chopping the Food Corporation's role and decentralising food management will bring down subsidies, avoid needless stockpiling, and rat feasting. The introduction of a futures market ensures a soft landing for sugar decontrol. Perhaps, the boldest move is to remove excise duties on food processing, which could usher a horticultural revolution and transform our fruit exports. My favourite measure is agri-clinics or agri-business centres, financed by NABARD loans, which could unleash thousands of agricultural graduate-entrepreneurs. It leverages knowledge and marks a new era of private farm services--in testing soils, plant protection, seeds, marketing, post harvest handling, etc. Farmers will pay for result oriented, private consultancy instead of free, apathetic government extension service. Just as our IIT graduates become millionaires, it is now the chance for our 17,000 annual graduates of agricultural colleges. Each clinic will need on average 3 graduates and 9 technicians, and this could also create vast employment for the educated in rural areas. I have two criticisms though: One, the absence of a food-for-work program to reduce the present grain mountain, and two, the absence of reform in our mandi or post-harvest system. With 15 per cent of our food (worth Rs. 24,000 crores) wasted, we must at least experiment with a modern system of silos and mechanised, bulk handling. India is not a tiger but an elephant--hence our reform process is frustratingly slow. As a first step, agriculture needed to be placed on the national reform agenda. This Mr. Sinha has done.