Right science, policies, markets can make drylands a strength: Chouhan

Government calls for crop diversification, better water management and stronger markets to boost farming in dryland areas

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday called for a renewed focus on providing the right science, policies and markets to dryland areas, while emphasising the need for crop diversification at the Dryland Congress, an international conference on agriculture in drylands being held in New Delhi.

 

“Drylands are not our weakness. With the right science, the right policies and the right markets, drylands can become one of the biggest strengths of India and Africa,” Chouhan said. Drylands are classified as areas that face acute water scarcity and where agriculture is highly difficult.

 

Chouhan highlighted that India has a deep-rooted tradition of crop diversification and the consumption of millets, pulses and lentils. “Our elders used to say that you should sow four different things in the four corners, not just one. Diversification was in our roots,” he said.

  

“Earlier, we used to make rotis from jowar and bajra. We would make wheat rotis when guests came. Eating millets was part of our way of life. When dryland farming disappeared, millets disappeared with it,” he added.

 

He also said scientists had treated millets, pulses and lentils unfairly by focusing more on rice and wheat.

 

Water scarcity, according to the minister, was becoming a critical constraint for agriculture, with farmers competing for the resource. Changing climatic patterns such as El Niño are adding to rainfall uncertainty. “The need is to figure out how to grow good crops with less water. In a changing climate, every drop of rain must be utilised,” he said.

 

Chouhan also linked water conservation to the VB-GRAM G programme, under which ₹1,52,282 crore is to be spent until March. “Employment should create assets such as ponds, dams and canals,” he said.

 

He said 65 per cent of spending should be directed towards critical blocks facing water shortages, 40 per cent towards semi-critical blocks and 30 per cent towards general blocks, allowing the programme to be used more effectively in dryland areas.

 

“Water should be conserved, and production should come from that water, thereby increasing farmers’ income,” Chouhan said.

 

Govt begins consultations on Seeds, Pesticide Acts overhaul

 

Later in the day, Chouhan said the government had begun consultations with farmers and farmer organisations following suggestions received during the Viksit Krishi Sankalp campaign that the decades-old Seeds Act and Pesticide Act needed an overhaul. Nearly 20 farmers’ organisations held discussions on Thursday with the minister as part of the consultation process.