The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Concern over huge import of wheat, pulses

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 27, 2006
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Concern over huge import of wheat, pulses

Special Correspondent

It is a manifestation of the serious agrarian crisis in the country, says Union Agriculture Minister

SIZE DOES MATTER!: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy admire a huge pumpkin on display at the national conference of Krishi Vigyan Kendras in Hyderabad on Sunday. — PHOTO: P. V. Sivakumar

HYDERABAD: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Sunday said that the huge import of wheat and pulses by the country this year was a manifestation of the serious agrarian crisis that it faced.

Expressing concern at the situation, he told the inaugural function of the second national conference of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) here, that India imported 5.5 million tonnes of wheat and a huge quantity of pulses this year. Of course, oilseeds were also imported but it was going on for several years.

Shooting prices

The import of wheat and pulses should be viewed in the context of shooting prices of essential commodities, which was a disturbing trend, he said adding that the situation had transformed the food security scene of the country.

"When I take a decision on the imports, I have to consider the vast difference it has made since India was exporting food to 15 countries years ago. Now, we are an importing country," he remarked.

Mr. Pawar called for substantial increase in the efficiency to use water as it seldom exceeded 40 per cent. The efficiency in use of other agricultural inputs like fertilizers, seed, feed and energy was also low. Therefore, there was need for a re-look at priorities for technology development and delivery mechanism to achieve agricultural transformation.

Bridging the gap

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy said there was a big gap between scientific know-how and field level do-how in agriculture.

The knowledge deficit should be overcome speedily in order to enhance productivity and profitability of small farms.

Post-harvest technology wings must be added to KVKs urgently and lab-to-land demonstrations in post-harvest technology and agro-processing and value addition to primary products taken up to provide skilled jobs to the landless labour.

Mangala Rai, Director-General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), which sponsored the conference, and S. Raghuvardhan Reddy, Vice-Chancellor of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, the co-sponsor, also spoke.

The KVKs of Gadag (Karnataka), Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh) and Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan) received awards for being the best in the country in 2004-05.

`Pavala vaddi' scheme

The State Government now plans to extend the "pavala vaddi" (three per cent interest per annum) scheme of crop loans to farmers, after it received overwhelming response from women SHGs.

Authorities are planning to constitute a committee of experts from the finance and agriculture sectors to study the proposal and give recommendations.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy who spoke to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar during his visit to the city on Sunday reportedly conveyed the proposal.

He is understood to have appealed to the Centre to extend 30 per cent grant to implement the scheme.

Explaining the steps launched for alleviating the farm sector crisis, he said while free power was being provided to more than 24 lakh farmers, the Government's efforts had increased farm credit from Rs. 9,000 crores during 2003-04 to Rs. 20,000 crores this financial year.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh