Bansal calls for four per cent growth in agri sector

Chandigarh, May 29 (UNI) Union Minister of state for Finance Pawan Kumar Bansal today said to make economic growth sustainable it was essential that the agriculture sector achieved a growth of four per cent.

''There is a need to promote private sector, provide knowledge and connectivity to create agriculture-industry linkage so as to achieve the sustainable economic growth,'' he said while addressing a conference on Strategy for New Growth in Indian Agriculture organised by PHDCCI here.

He said the government was laying emphasis on the allied sectors like food processing but it needs the private sector to come forward to help small farmers in this competitive enviornment as government could only play a role of facilitator.

In his welcome remarks R S Sachdeva, Co-Chairman, Punjab Committee PHDCCI said that horticultural crops for which the Indian topography and agro climates were well suited was an ideal method of achieving sustainability of small holdings, increasing employment, improving environment, providing an enormous export potential and above all achieving nutritional security. As a result, due emphasis on diversification to horticultural crops was given only during the last one decade,he added.

Dr S S Johl, Vice Chairman of Punjab Planning Board in his presentation on crisis in Punjab Agriculture described the agricultuare situation of Punjab in the last two decades and discussed about the recommendations given by the Committees on diversification and contract farming.

Dr T C Jain involved with the World Bank for a watershed project in Himachal Pradesh said that government has realized and appreciated the need of improving environment to attract the private sector and have taken some initiative in the right direction.

Dr K G Karmakar, Executive Director, NABARD, Mumbai deliberated upon emerging issues in agricultural credit. He said that any effort in setting or expanding or modernizing agro-industry requires a significant portion of project financing by debt component.

NABARD being the largest development bank in agriculture, hopefully would elaborate on some remedies of this perennial problem in agricultural growth, Dr Karmakar said.

UNI HS MP KP2011