Govt Stresses On Alternative Crops

The agriculture ministry feels that if the monsoon revives in the next four or five days, as anticipated by the weather office, the damage to the crops will be mitigated to some extent.

However, in those areas of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana where the planting of crops like bajra (millet) and soyabean has been delayed due to paucity of soil moisture, the loss in crop acreage will not be fully made up.

This was indicated in a meeting of agriculture ministry officials convened by agriculture minister Ajit Singh to review the current farm situation in context of the abnormal behaviour of the monsoon.

It was decided to give priority to ensuring adequate availability of seeds and other inputs for alternative crops suitable for cultivation after the revival of the rains.

The ministry has drawn contingency plans to promote alternative cropping strategies based on shorter-duration crops like Guar and Mothbean (pulse) in Rajasthan, where bajra crop could not be planted for want of water. In the upland paddy areas of Chhattisgarh, crops like pulses and oilseeds would be encouraged.

The states have been advised to ensure efficient use of irrigation water. Facilities for credit and crop insurance, too, should be streamlines, the states have been told.

The chief secretaries of states have already been communicated about the emerging exigencies and the need to be ready with contingency measures. The area officers of the ministry have been in touch with the authorities of the affected states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, where the monsoon activity has been subdued or missing altogether so far.

The present weather conditions, though unusual, are not unprecedented, the ministry feels. In 1992 and 1995 also, the rainfall was deficient till the middle of July and the onset of the monsoon over Delhi was delayed till the second week of July. The weather office has communicated to the ministry that the low pressure area formed over the Bay of Bengal was likely to bring rains to the northern states in the next four or five days.

Later, addressing the 73rd annual general meeting of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), agriculture minister said subsidies were essential to enable the farmers to compete in the liberalised environment.

He also urged the states to ensure that the farmers got at least the minimum support prices for their produce.

Singh appreciated the enthusiasm of the private sector to enter the field of agriculture. He suggested that the private sector should also undertake research and development work in agriculture which hitherto was being done by the public sector alone.

Highlighting the achievements of the Indian farm research network, ICAR director-general Panjab Singh said several insect-protected transgenic varieties and hybrids of crops like cotton, rice, mustard, mungbean, tomato and potato had been developed and were being field tested.

He said over 50 applications had been filed by ICAR scientists for taking patents on their research outcome. Many more applications were pending.

On this occasion, ICAR awards were presented to 112 scientists, extension workers, authors, progressive farmers and an agriculture journalist. Of all the awardees, about 15 per cent were women scientists. The awards were also given to the best institutions and teams of scientists for their joint work.