Agriculture and food minister Sharad Pawar today said the country was poised for a second green revolution which would come about through knowledge-based interventions and participation of the private and non-governmental sectors. | |
| He also maintained that wheat production was likely to exceed 72.5 million tonne this year, against last year's 69.5 million tonnes, thanks to expansion in area and favourable weather conditions. |
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| Talking to newspersons after inaugurating the India-Africa agrifood summit here, Pawar said weather conditions have been extremely favourable so far and the recent rains in the wheat growing areas had raised the hopes of crossing 72.5 million tonne mark in wheat output. This optimism was corroborated by the reports from the state agriculture commissioners. He also welcomed recent snowfall in the hills, especially in Himachal Pradesh. |
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| The minister told the summit participants that the food processing sector had emerged as one of the leading sub-sectors of the economy. It now represented 13 per cent of the manufacturing sector gross domestic product (GDP) and was growing at 10 per cent a year. |
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| Referring to agricultural marketing reforms, Pawar said these provided greater flexibility to the farmers and the buyers to interact in the market and benefit from improved market efficiency. |
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| He offered to cooperate with the African countries in agriculture and allied fields. |
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| Meanwhile, the government will start wheat procurement with a comfortable buffer stock this year. |
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| "The wheat buffer stock in the central pool is estimated to be around 4.5 million tonne on April 1, 125 per cent more than last year's 2 million tonne", said Alok Sinha, chairman and managing director, Food Corporation of India (FCI), at the sidelines of a wheat seminar organised by the Roller Flour Millers' Federation. |
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| The stock will be 0.5 million tonne above the stipulated 4 million tonne, and this will send positive psychological signals for a better procurement by FCI, he said. With a minimum support price of Rs 750 a quintal that is higher by Rs 100 a quintal over last year, the government is looking to procure more than 15 million tonne. |
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| Last year, the government procurement fell to 9.2 million tonne against 14.8 million tonne in the year before. The government was forced to import 5.5 million tonne wheat to meet its public distribution system requirements. |
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| Union food secretary T Nanda Kumar said wheat production might be well in excess of 73 million tonne, keeping in view favourable weather. In another public meeting, Sharad Pawar, the Union food minister, told reporters that production was likely to be around 73.5 million tonnes. |
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| On wheat imports Kumar said: "We do not rule out the possibility of importing, if the need be." |
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| Referring to news reports of large trading houses staying away from wheat mandis, Kumar said: "I am not sure whether they are exiting from market. The buying pattern of FCI will prove that." |
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