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Wednesday, Nov 01, 2006
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Chidambaram: time to reorder priorities in agriculture

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday said the time had come to "reorder our priorities" in agriculture and called for higher public investment, especially in irrigation, even if that meant scaling down some other subsidies.

Delivering the convocation address at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) at Ludhiana, he said: "The question that I would like to put to you — and I would urge you to answer it — is whether we should not reallocate more resources to public investment, especially irrigation which has large externalities, even if that requires scaling down other subsidies."

A distant memory

Hailing the green revolution, in which the Punjab farmer had a major part to play, Mr. Chidambaram said: "Today, unfortunately, the green revolution is a distant memory, and its impact has certainly ebbed. We need to revisit the problems of the agricultural sector and address the cry of anguish we hear from farmers."

The Minister urged PAU teachers and scholars to draw an "ambitious blueprint" for Indian agriculture in the 21st century. "There is no iron law that says farming is drudgery or that farming is a life of poverty or that farming is an occupation for those with no choice. It is possible to make farming an occupation of choice, an activity of profit and a way of life that brings dignity and prosperity."

Stagnation in output

Pointing to the stagnation in output — wheat at about 70 million tonnes a year and paddy at about 90 million tonnes, he said: "We seem to have reached a plateau in agriculture production... The reasons for this stalemate are quite obvious: there has been no major technological breakthrough in grain varieties or seeds or the use of fertilizers in the last 20 years."

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