NEW DELHI:Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday called for raising farm productivity to meet the growing demand of foodgrain in the country.
At a function organised to honour 10 states with Krishi Karman Awards here for recording highest foodgrain production, Singh said, “it is important that the inclusive strategies of development that the Government is pursuing further increase the income of the poorer sections of our society so as to enhance demand for not only foodgrain, but also fruits, vegetables and animal products.” “The country clearly needs a second green revolution that is more broad-based, more inclusive and more sustainable and there is a need to produce more without depleting natural resources any further,” he said.
Referring to India’s current expenditure on agricultural research and development which is about 0.6 per cent of agricultural GDP, Singh suggested this be enhanced at least 2 to 3 times by 2020, since a substantial portion of the agricultural growth would come through the application of new technologies and new knowledge to production processes.
“The total demand for foodgrain is projected to touch 280 million tonnes by 2020-21. Meeting this demand will necessitate a growth rate of nearly 2 per cent per annum in food production. The target of additional production of 20 million tonnes of food grain has been achieved a year in advance through collective efforts of the Centre and state governments.
“The production of foodgrain has reached 241 million tonne in 2010-11. Production of major crops has been at record levels in 2010-11 driven by record production of wheat, maize and pulses,” he said.
In keeping with the higher yields, the government has approved additional food grain storage capacity of about 152 lakh tonne for 19 states. Out of this, capacity of 72.65 lakh tonne has been finalised for creation by private entrepreneurs, Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs).
More capacity is likely to be finalised in the next few months. These new capacities are likely to come up in the next one year. According to the Food Ministry, tenders have been approved to private investors for 53.32 lakh tonne, while 5.31-lakh-tonne capacity is being constructed by CWC and 15.01 lakh tonne by SWCs. The progress is being monitored by the FCI and the ministry at the highest level on weekly basis. Meetings have also been organised with SWCs for monitoring the progress of constructions of godowns for the capacities allotted to them.
The Department has also prepared a plan for augmentation of the storage capacity in the North-Eastern states, totalling 5.4-lakh-tonne capacity with an allocation of `568 crore. The Centre had announced a scheme for construction of godowns through private investors under 7 to 10 years guarantee scheme. It was also decided that wherever CWC or SWCs have their own lands, they would also construct godowns under the scheme.