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The Union Minister for Agriculture, Shri Sharad Pawar, while addressing the National Development Council (NDC) sub committee on Agriculture, said, the challenge before us is to attain 4 percent growth in the agriculture sector within the shortest possible time and in a broad based fashion. Water Management, he said, holds the key to such a growth rate in a sustainable manner. It has been estimated that about 20 million hectares of additional land can be brought under irrigation by completing the ongoing major and medium irrigation projects and by constructing field channels in command areas. The Government is committed to find adequate resources for this purpose.
Shri Pawar said that water use efficiency can be greatly improved through installation of drip, sprinkle and fertigation systems, which in all developed and developing countries is deemed to be part of basic infrastructure. The Prime Minister emphasised the need for expeditious completion of on-going irrigation projects as well as bringing land under irrigation in command areas of completed projects; apart from making agriculture more profitable and sustainable in dryland/rainfed areas.
The Minister said Dryland Farming System Approach for areas with less than 750 m.m. rainfall is a must. For too long States remaining outside the pale of the green revolution have borne the brunt of climatic change and weather vagaries –which need to be addressed within a system approach aimed at improving soil moisture retention; ground water recharging; alternate crop use through integrated adoption of “Agri-Horti-Livestock”. This will enhance productivity and sustainability of dryland agriculture in rainfed areas and bring income stability in the hands of our farmers. The establishment of a “National Rainfed Area Authority” will be a major step in this direction.
The Agriculture Minister said all the concerns of the Prime Minister are incorporated in the terms of reference of the Sub-Committee. He wanted us to explore the scope for converging the resources of Bharat Nirman and the National Employment Guarantee Scheme with the schemes of the agriculture sector. The Prime Minister has suggested identifying the key initiatives required in each of the regions.
Another important area in which agriculture ministry is working is marketing reforms to enhance efficiency and competitiveness of agriculture. This is necessary to ensure that the farmers get their due share in the final value of their produce. At our persuasion at least six States have already amended their Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Acts to allow for contract and free marketing, smooth flow of raw materials to agro-processing industries, setting up of marketing infrastructure in the private sector, and adoption of innovative marketing systems and technologies, the agriculture minister said.
Shri Pawar recapitulated the steps suggested in the Mid Term Appraisal (MTA). The MTA had suggested stepping up public investment, particularly in irrigation and water resources management, watershed development and reclamation of waste/degraded land; carrying forward the essential reforms for conserving water and soil; providing for essential infrastructure such as roads, markets and electricity; rejuvenating input support systems such as extension services, credit and seeds; taking steps to increase domestic and export demand, etc. The MTA has also suggested having a re-look at the subsidies, which distort the cropping patterns and degrade our precious natural resources such as water and soil. The Minister brought the attention of the members to the poor plan outlays for agriculture in States’ budget. States constitute a mere 4-5 per cent of their total Plan outlays, in many instances even less. He requested the Chief Ministers to reverse this trend and earmark higher allocations for agriculture development. The Central Government has enhanced its outlay, and will confine to do so.
While speaking of diversification and integrated farming, the minister said, one cannot over-emphasise the importance of livestock and fisheries. Apart from providing supplemental income to the farmers these sectors create vast employment opportunities, meet the nutritional requirements of large sections of the population and substantially contribute to empowerment of women. The National Project for Cattle and Buffalo Breeding being implemented by the Ministry since 2000 is being recast to bring about vast genetic improvement by both taking up cross breeding in a large way and taking measures for conservation of some of our well known indigenous breeds. Disease control is important not merely for improving the productivity of our animals but also to promote exports of all livestock products including milk products, Shri Pawar emphasised. Growth rates of over 8% in fish production are possible if adequate resources are provided and concerted efforts made. The Agriculture Ministry is actively considering the setting up of a National Fisheries Development Board, in order to realize this huge potential, he said.
Shri Pawar informed that the sub-committee is supposed to submit an Interim Report by December 2005 and the deadline must be honoured.
The first NDC sub committee was attended by Finance Minister Shri P Chidambaram, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Rural Development Minister Shri Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Water Resources Minister Shri P.R. Dashmunsi, Food Processing Minister Shri Subodh Kant Sahai. Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Orissa, Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, agriculture ministers from various states, senior officials from agriculture ministry and members from Planning Commission were also present in the meeting.
UM:RC:NDCmeet041005
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