Summit
! Quite a
Long
pending issues were back into the limelight at the twoday Agriculture
Summit 2005 held in New Delhi recently. TAJ reports on the various
reforms discussed
India
might soon witness a welcome change from its ageing agricultural reforms,
if Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has his way. Inaugurating the
Agriculture Summit 2005 held in New Delhi at the Vigyan Bhavan on
April 9-10, 2005, Dr Singh emphasised that his government would work
on a 'new deal' for rural India that would bridge the gap between
'advanced forms of
THE AGRICULTURE
SUMMIT 2005 PROVED TO BE A UNIQUE PLATFORM FOR STRATEGISING AND EXPLORING
ALL GROWTH AVENUES
agriculture and industry' and 'other forms from a
bygone era.' Apart from Union Minister for Agriculture, Food &
Civil Supplies, Mr Sharad Pawar and, Union Minister of Finance Mr
P Chidambaram, who were present at the venue, the audience comprised
of industry leaders, diplomats, senior bureaucrats and a sprinkling
of ‘progressive farmers’ mostly from Congress district committees.
Organised by the Agriculture Ministry and the Federation of Indian
Chambers and Commerce Industry (FICCI), the objective of the Summit
was to lay down concrete plans of raising farm sector production and
employment potential as well as discover measures of increasing the
income of poor farmers.
The Summit thereby proved to be a unique platform
for strategising and exploring all growth avenues existing in the
agriculture sector. The 'new deal' required reversing the declining
trend in investment in agriculture, stepping up credit flow to farmers,
increasing public investment in irrigation and wasteland development,
increasing funds for research and development, creating a common single
market in the country, investing in rural healthcare, education, electrification,
rural roads, future markets, insurance against risk in farming and
forging public-private partnerships. Dr Singh also sought suggestions
from the Summit on how a financial window could be created for long-term
capital flow into agriculture. He urged the Information Technology
(IT) sector to take up the task of creating awareness amongst farmers
on the new avenues and opportunities in agriculture and suggested
the adaptation of these technologies in order to enable farmers to
make more informed choices and undertake product planning in a demand-driven,
rather than, supply-driven mode."A massive effort is required
to create awareness amongst farmers on the new avenues and opportunities
in agriculture through the use of IT. I believe we do need a Second
Green Revolution in agriculture based on the application of new technologies
and modern business practices," he stated in his speech.
contd...
TO
READ FURTHER... SUBSCRIBE TO
YOUR COPY TODAY!!!
