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Redefine agri sector to double food production in next 5 years: Pranab
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Saturday, 02 February, 2013, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
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fiogf49gjkf0d India's agriculture sector needs to be redefined to achieve the goal of doubling the food production in the next five years. This was stated by President Pranab Mukherjee while inaugurating a conference titled Doubling Food Production in Five Years in New Delhi recently.
“The matter of food production should be placed higher in policy making platform,” he said, adding that India's agriculture sector is lagging behind and it is a matter of concern that the contribution of agriculture to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) has dipped from 23 per cent in the Ninth Five-year Plan to around 15 per cent currently.
“For every one per cent growth in agriculture sector there would be a 2-3 per cent reduction in poverty,” Mukherjee stressed. The Planning Commission has targeted an annual growth rate of four per cent for the agriculture sector in the Twelfth Five-year Plan.
The president emphasised that a revision of strategy is needed to achieve the goal, suggesting steps like reducing wastage, streamlining the credit policy and crop insurance policy for farmers and striking a balance in the use of fertilisers to avoid bad effects.
Earlier, Sharad Pawar, union agriculture minister, pointed out that storage and reduction in post harvest loss is vital for food security using scientific methods. “Research and development in agriculture sector is required to achieve the food security,” he said.
Union minister for water resources Harish Rawat said around 78 per cent water of the country goes to the agriculture sector, while the remaining part shared out between drinking, industry and other usage. “Therefore it is required that water storage facilities to be increased in country. 450 million cubic meter water storage is required by 2050,” he stated.
Srikant Jena, minister for fertilisers, said that for allowing the production to double, the ministry would provide all support. Last year, 58 million metric tonnes of fertilisers were used.
S Ayappan, director general, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), was among those present at the conference. He insisted that agriculture should be a knowledge-based sector involving all the stakeholders, including farmers, industries like food processing and policy-makers.
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