WITH a soft drink in his left hand and a cell phone in his shirt pocket, Randhir Sandhu did not quite look like a paddy grower. Moreover, on Wednesday afternoon four weeks ago, Sandhu hosted a dialog between farmers of the Samalkha-Panipat district and some participants of International Paddy Congress II.

The Congress, from October 9-13 in New Delhi, was opened by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Congress participants came from the governmen