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Call for setting up a Central body for rainwater management

Special Correspondent

To curb adverse impact of recurrent droughts on the national economy

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Prabhulal Saini has suggested establishment of a Rainwater Management Authority and a Rainfed Area Authority at the national level to deal with the problems of wastage of rainwater flowing into the sea and the adverse impact of recurrent droughts on the national economy.

Addressing a meeting of State Agriculture Ministers held in New Delhi over the weekend to deliberate on the national agriculture policy, Mr. Saini pointed out that farmers across the country were at the receiving end in the existing agricultural system heavily dependent on rains.

"In the States like Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, only a small percentage of the rainwater is harvested and utilised for irrigation. There is an urgent need to adopt measures for conservation of rainwater," said Mr. Saini.

The participants in the meeting deliberated on a report submitted recently by the National Commission for Farmers on the draft agriculture policy.

Mr. Saini said nearly 61 per cent of the 317-lakh hectare dry land in the country was situated in Rajasthan, and the desert State had a 40 per cent share in the country's arid and semi-arid areas. He called for a special economic package for farmers depending solely on rain water in view of uncertainty of rains.

The Minister affirmed that special steps were also needed in the sectors such as agricultural resources, animal husbandry, dairy and alternative employment to provide succour to farmers.

Mr. Saini called upon the Centre to take the States into confidence while formulating the national agriculture policy as well as in the farm-related research activities to widen their scope for the coverage of climatic conditions, geological features and sand qualities of various regions.

"Most of the research today is centred on the crops grown in irrigated areas, while the need for augmenting the crop yield is felt more in the dry and drought-prone areas," Mr. Saini said and asked the agricultural scientists to make practical recommendations for the purpose.

The Minister said the Rajasthan Government had already appointed a Farmers' Commission and also established a high-level Working Group on Agriculture headed by the noted agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan. Besides, the State Government had laid emphasis on productivity, marketing, farm produce processing, value addition and animal husbandry to promote the agriculture sector, he added.

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