The Hindu : National : Rope youth into farm sector: Swaminathan

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Friday, Jan 05, 2007
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Rope youth into farm sector: Swaminathan

A.V. Ragunathan

Suggests setting up of farm schools, and farm and industrial training centres

— Photo: V. Ganesan

PROPOUNDING IDEAS: Agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan gives a lecture on ``Sustainable Agricultural Development in India'' at the 94th Indian Science Congress at Chidambaram on Thursday.

CHIDAMBARAM: Agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan on Thursday gave a call for attracting youth to the farm sector by identifying promising children and nurturing their talents. For this, farm schools, and farm and industrial training centres might be set up, he said in a power-point presentation on `Sustainable agricultural development in India' at the 94th Indian Science Congress at Annamalai University here.

Universities could think of starting short-term farm-related courses in subjects such as commodity exchanges and futures, and conservation farming. These programmes would benefit over a million women living in villages.

Dr. Swaminathan also called for harnessing the best technology and taking it to rural areas for achieving food and nutritional security.

He stressed the need for linking science and society. Hunger had three dimensions — chronic, hidden and transient. The rate of maternal malnutrition was quite high leading to delivery of underweight (less than 2.2 kg) babies.

There was no famine of food but only famine of work. The market was full of goods, but people did not have money to buy them. In this connection, he lauded the Rural Employment Guarantee Programme that, he said, would improve nutritional status.

Dr. Swaminathan said the traditional system and wisdom ought to be adopted to address problems. The proper way to describe "coarse cereals" was as "nutritional cereals." The lowly Moringa oleifera, grown on tank bunds and banks of rivers, was rich in nutrients; it contained seven times the quantity of Vitamin C found in orange, four times of Vitamin A found in carrot and four times of calcium found in milk. Dr. Swaminathan said the first Green Revolution was made possible by a symphony of technology, services and public policies. The path to the second green revolution would be through raising oilseeds and pulses for which he advocated creation of "pulses villages" and facilitating self-help groups to produce seeds.

India was lagging behind in implementing the Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015. Urban malnutrition too was also prevalent, he said.

For achieving food security, the factors of availability, access and absorption should be considered. The Public Distribution System should be reformed, and ragi and a whole series of millets supplied through fair price shops.

Referring to a panel set up by the Prime Minister for attaining water security, Dr. Swaminathan called for launching a water literacy movement.

The panel prepared an action plan for the Water Year beginning June 2007. The theme for the Water Year would be "more yield and income per drop of water."

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