To expand water and land resources for agriculture in the country, over 14 crore farmers will be having their own soil health cards in the next three years, said, Mr. Radha Mohan Singh while inaugurating '7th Agricultural Summit' organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
He urged students and scientist fraternity from agriculture to create awareness among farmers of atleast one village of their hometown about various initiatives in agriculture with the theme of Mera Gaon, Mera Gaurav. He also mentioned that there are approximately 20,000 scientist and 50,000 students from agriculture, who are graduate or PhD's of agriculture.
He also underlined the importance of fundamentals of agricultural growth for the development of country as he mentioned improved soil health, high productive seeds, and modern agriculture practices, effective irrigation facilities, water to every agricultural land, apt marketing facility for agricultural produce are essential points for development of agriculture as a whole.
Mentioning about Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Mr. Singh said that the programme will play a vital role in bringing water to every agricultural land in the country. He added that Soil Health Card (SHC) provided to farmers will be a tool to identify the nutritional requirement of the soil and apt laboratory analysis for increasing the agriculture production and productivity. He emphasized about organic fertilizer and traditional farming practices during his discussion.
He further said, the next Green Revolution is possible in 7 North states. For north and east states, the traditional farming will be encouraged and the government has already released Rs. 100 crores to boost it.
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This year, the government and the agriculture sector have faced many challenges like rainfall which was almost 13% less this time and many more, said Mr. Singh.
He said that with the setting up of the price stabilization fund, farmers will be able to get remunerative prices for their agriculture products. Mr. Singh pointed about e-Marketing of agriculture products especially horticulture produce like lichi, mango, gauva and emphasised that horticulture, dairy and fishery has potential to generate huge employment for farmers, especially youth.
He also mentioned that government has made initiatives for development of Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries sector. He said the indigenous cows have a high tolerance towards the climate change and breeding of indigenous cows is essential for long term perspective of growth and productivity in agriculture output. He also mentioned that there is a need for adopting scientific attitude towards agriculture production to achieve the goal of higher growth in agriculture as a whole.
Mr Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya, Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture also said, agriculture has always been the backbone of the Indian economy. Even though the share of agriculture and allied sector in gross domestic product (GDP) has declined to 15.2% during the eleventh plan and further to n13.9% in 2013-14, it still accounts for about 54.6% of total employment. The development in agriculture is an essential condition for the development of national economy.
Mr. Kundariya further added, the estimated food requirement in India and total production of major crops indicate that to keep pace with the present population growth and consumption pattern, agriculture production in India has to be increased substantially. Government of India is committed to sustaining a growth of 4% in agriculture technology driven second green revolution with focus on higher productivity would help in achieving the projected agriculture growth of 4% and beyond.
Efforts need to be taken to make farming competitive and profitable. To achieve this objective, there is an urgent need to step up investment, both public and private, in agro-technology development and create and modernize existing agri-business infrastructure, said Mr. Kundariya.
Mr. Rana Kapoor, MD & CEO, YES BANK, President, ASSOCHAM said, Despite satisfactory production levels achieved in the last few years, the agriculture sector faces several challenges in further enhancing yield levels, reducing wastages, developing infrastructure and efficiently managing the agri value chain. These can be addressed through appropriate and sustainable practices and technologies, rationalized subsidy regime, enabling policy initiatives, innovative organizational structures, adequate infrastructure development and farm-focused R&D, thereby ensuring overall food and nutritional security for the nation.
Mr Anil B. Jain, Chairman, Agriculture & Food Security Council said, about 8 percent growth in agriculture is needed and feasible and if achieved will result in prosperous rural India and much stronger in India. Need to ensure progress on following initiatives like soil conditioning, right fertilizers, nutrients irrigation, water use efficiency irrigation, waste water treatment, biotechnology, better seeds and planting materials, precision agriculture etc.
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