Montek, Pawar call for State-specific strategy for farming

New Delhi, May 29 (UNI) Yielding to the demands of the States, the Centre today agreed to provide substantially enhanced support for the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) during the 11th Plan.

''The Finance Minister has agreed to provide additional resources for the programme beyond the Budget in the current year,'' Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia announced at the 53rd meeting of National Development Council here.

Dr Ahluwalia made out a case for hiking public investment in irrigation saying the dearth of water was starving Indian agriculture.

The sole focus of NDC meeting is to devise a strategy for the agriculture sector for the 11th Plan.

The event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who mooted the idea of 'Food Security Mission' and substantial Central support for closing the yield gap relating to various crops.

The Prime Minister's address was followed by a speech of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar who called upon the States to draw state-specific plans, taking into account the agro-climatic conditions and available natural resources.

The key to success of the farm sector lay not only in enhancing investment, both public and private, but in implementation of programmes and schemes announced by the Government, Mr Pawar said.

Dr Ahluwalia, however, enjoined upon the States to avoid the pitfalls of the 10th Plan when the expenditure target was exceeded, but the addition to potential irrigated area was only 50 per cent of the target. Besides, the actual area under irrigation did not increase at all.

The Deputy Chairman offered the following suggestions for improving the performance of the agriculture sector: -- Avoid adding new projects and completing ongoing projects expeditously.

-- Contract managememt in AIBP projects needs to be improved by resorting to fix-time contracts.

-- One model project per State to be taken up focusing of modernisation and rehabilitation of the existing schemes.

-- NREG and Backward Region Grant Fund money should be utilised to supplement resources for command area development.

-- The Centre and States should work to extend the technology frontiers and to overcome the technology fatique.

-- Additional resources required for agricultural research which should be made more result-oriented and strategically driven.

-- States and the Centre need to ensure that critical input of reliable quality, including seeds and fertilisers, needs to be made available at the right time.

UNI