The International Food Policy Research Institute, based in Washington, projected during nineties in the last century that India needs to augment its agricultural productivity by three-folds in another three decades since then, in order to feed the swelling population, owing to steep reduction in per capita land holding for agricultural production as more and more of these lands are going out of cultivation due to the pressure of urbanization and other demographic factors. It must be admitted that agriculture is no longer a financially attractive proposition in majority of the areas, which as such is a dangerous signal for the future. A number of other workers have echoed this trend, although there could be difference in magnitude. The trend is likely to be further compounded in future mainly for two reasons, viz. (i) as soon as the WTO regime becomes fully operational in this country it might discourage the farmers much more than in the past, if the government does not take adequate measures for their protection against financial losses after careful consideration of pros and cons, and (ii) if there is indiscriminate displacement of fertile agricultural lands by industries, particularly the major ones, most agonizingly by state’s provocation. Recently, the Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has projected that the agricultural productivity needs to be more than doubled by 2050.
Under this background it is very much necessary that an appropriate strategy is developed so that there is enough food for the growing population, on the other hand, by trying to reverse the existing trend of agriculture as a losing profession in majority of the areas to a profiteering one, and use agriculture as a significant means, on the other hand, to solve the problem of unemployment using large rural force. Following are the suggestions:
· Exploiting value addition for each crop: identify the full range of value added products and develop appropriate protocols for each. This should aim primarily at small and medium scale industries with target to involve semiskilled and unskilled rural youth, which would thus not only help generate employment opportunities in the rural sector very significantly, but also encourage farmers for improved cultivation due to higher value addition/ increased profitability ensured for each crop. This approach should be well planned through a network of activities all over the state.
· Linking agricultural research to market at each phase – develop appropriate modalities
· Encouraging seed production, both for hybrids and high yielding varieties
· Introducing crop diversification with focus on improved water & nutrient use efficiency
No comments:
Post a Comment