'PM

New Delhi, June 26: Holding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar for not doing anything at a time when they admitted that the sector has become 'unviable', the BJP today said that the Government should take note of the warning given by noted agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan that the sector was heading for a collapse if remedial measures were not taken immediately.

Briefing newspersons about the resolution relating to farming, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said it was disturbing that there was growth in other sectors while agriculture which accounted for 60 per cent of the country's population remained stagnant for many years. The per capita income of farmers was a mere 0.28 per cent compared to four per cent for other sectors, he said.

The resolution said that the farm sector in India faced multi-dimentional challenges both from within and outside and the crisis in agriculture was spreading the indebetedness among the farmers posing a grave danger to the food security of the nation.

The year 2006 was one of the worst years for the farmers as the economic package had stopped the farmers from commiting suicides.

The BJP has asked the Government to bring down the interest rate on farm credit to four per cent level gradually, a level implemented by the Karnataka where BJP is in power in coalition with Janata Dal (Secular). "We know it is not possible to do it in one go and that is the reason we have sought gradual reduction of interest rates", Mr Naidu said. He also pointed that agriculture sector got only two per cent of budgetary allocations.

The result of the UPA rule on the country was that the country had become a net importer of food grains in three years when its granaries were brimming with food frains and India was an exporter nation. The government's decision to import 50 lakh MT of food grains was ill conceived and ill timed affecting wheat farmers, their returns and their sustainability.

He said the BJP demanded the Government not to allow any fresh agricultural land for Special Economic Zones as it would have impact on food production and the country could ill afford such a situation.

The BJP regretted the UPA government virtually dumping the inter-linking of the rivers which was the only long term solution for upholding the farm sector. The soil health card programme launched by Gujarat should be a national programme as it helped the farmers to provide right nutrient and save on wasteful expenditure.

UNI