The Hindu : Front Page : Huge Central aid for State farm sector

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Wednesday, Aug 01, 2007
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Huge Central aid for State farm sector

Special Correspondent

Assistance is for bridging yield gaps, says Manmohan

— Photo: Satish. H

Farm factor: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flanked by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia at the review meeting in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday indicated that Andhra Pradesh would get a major chunk of the additional Central assistance of Rs. 25,000 crore in the eleventh Five Year Plan, for revitalisation of agriculture.

Dr. Singh, who reviewed agriculture at a meeting here with Chief Minister, Minister and State officials, spoke about the Central aid while listing out the areas of concern that included stagnation in agricultural growth in the last decade, both in terms of yields and total output.

South Telangana

He said there were large inter-regional gaps in yields and productivity, with South Telangana being the most backward recording high yield gap.

North Coastal Andhra, having relatively high rainfall has low yields in rice and sugarcane and the comparison with delta was quite stark. North Telangana showed poor performance in cotton and jowar.

These variations were due to many factors but offered guidance about the areas where efforts had to be focussed.

Productivity

Dr. Singh said the Central assistance was for bridging such yield gaps and increasing productivity of agriculture and allied products.

He had a word of praise for the State’s “ambitious” plan for irrigation projects but cautioned that even after their completion, forty per cent of the State’s agriculture would be still rain-fed. “This need to be noted carefully and cannot be ignored.”

The State also needs to work hard on improving institutional credit while pointing to the fact that cooperative system accounted for just about 10 per cent of total credit while more than 50 per cent of farmers were unable to access institutional credit, as they were defaulters.

Briefing the media later, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said an understanding has been reached to draw a roadmap for achieving four per cent annual growth rate in farm sector during the Eleventh plan period. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia was among those present.

Mr. Pawar said it was resolved to launch National Food Security Mission in the State to achieve production of 30 lakh tonnes of rice, 3.5 lakh tonnes of pulses and five lakh tonnes of oilseeds besides increasing production of oil palm.

At the end of the day, the State Government could not wrest any assurance from the Prime Minister on the pricing policy of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin, an issue on which Dr. Reddy is engaged in a running battle with the Petroleum Ministry. Accepting some of the State Government’s proposals, the Prime Minister agreed to increasing the capacity of the HPCL refinery in Vizag to 8.3 million tonnes, expansion of the Vizag Port from 56 million tonnes to 100 million tonnes, provide additional Central assistance for Hyderabad’s Outer Ring Road and Rs. 365 crore for expansion of roads in Naxalite-affected areas.

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