Reduction in agri production a crisis: Barnala

Dharwad, Karnataka, June 11 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Governor Surjeet Singh Barnala today expressed concern over decrease in the per capita food grain production and said there was the need for a second Green Revolution to combat this crisis to make agriculture profitable and to increase production of foodgrains.

Delivering convocation address at 21st convocation of University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS) here, he said annual per capita food grain production had declined from 207 kg in 1995 to 186 kg last year. It was alarming that in the last year the annual growth rate of agriculture was only 1.87 per cent, being the lowest since independence. Overall land under cultivation had remained at 120 million hectares and had showed indications of reduction.

Mr Barnala said, "Drop in ground water table, fragmentation of agricultural land, non-availability of quality seeds, nutrient imbalance, over exploitation of nutrients and organic matters in the soil in cropping areas, lack of new technological breakthrough in terms of high yielding varieties of food grain crops are some of the factors that have caused a decline in food grain production".

He said, even Global agriculture was at the crossroads today in terms of ecology, economics, equity, energy and employment.

Ecologically, the problems had assumed both short term and long term dimensions. Ground water depletion and pollution, soil degradation and biodiversity loss were the result of habitat destruction. This was the area, which required immediate attention.

In long term, climate variation leading to adverse changes in precipitation, temperature and sea level can have disastrous consequences on food production, he said.

Mr Barnala said avoidance and adaptation measure to combat climatic change through integrated national and global action was needed now. In economic terms agriculture was becoming uneconomic unless massive state support was extended to farmers.

Industrialised countries were able to extend such support, while developing nations were unable to do so. This had led to a condition where there was no level playing field in global agricultural trade, he opined.

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