MP CM favours setting up Price Stabilisation Fund

New Delhi, Dec 9 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today called for water to be given the topmost priority in the 11th and 12th Five Year Plans.

Speaking at the 52nd Meeting of the National Development Council, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said the most effective strategy to increase the growth rate of agriculture to four per cent was to incease the area under irrigiation. He asked for a concrete action plan in this regard.

He expresed the view that with a fund of Rs 2 lakh crores, the full irrgiation potential of the country could be developed in ten years.

After ten years, the next thrust sector for agricultural growth was rational pricing of agriculture products and suggested establishment of a National Price Stabililisation Fund. This could serve the purpose of affording protection to both producers and consumers from fluctuation in agricultural prices, he said.

The Chief Minister said that all agricultural products should be brought under the minimum price support system for a review of the cost evaluation system used for fixing support prices to ensure remunerative returns to the farmers.

The Chief Minister expressed concern over the fact that the approach paper was silent on the issue of forest credit while discussing forestry. He said with 30.8 per cent of the States area under forest, the state had the largest forest area among the states. He suggested that the Union Govenment and other States should contribute to bear the cost of maintenance of this forest cover.

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