Instable production cause of concern in India: IARI Ex-director

Lucknow, Feb 28 (UNI) Former director of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, Prof N N Goswami today said instability in production and productivity in the Agriculture sector had been the major concern in the country.

''Declining agricultural growth rate coupled with declining factor productivity have been the major reasons for lack of sustainability,'' Prof Goswami noted.

While delivering lecture on the National Science Day here at the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), the Prof said the agricultural growth rate was 3.2 per cent in 1980-81, but decreased to minus 5.2 per cent in 2002-03.

However, it proliferated again to 9.1 per cent in 2003-04 with a latest decadal growth rate of 1.5 per cent, he informed.

Highlighting the future action plan, Prof Goswami said a gigantic task for a 'relook-agriculture' will target to achieve an annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent in the 11th plan (2007-12), as against the average growth of 2.3 per cent attained during the 10th plan.

He said the country needs to produce about 300 million tons of food grains in the next 2-3 decades to sustain a population of about 1.4 billion. The food security mission envisages an increase in production of rice by 10 million ton, wheat by 8 million ton and pulses by 2 million ton by the end of 11th plan.

The IARI ex-director further observed that for reinvigorating Indian Agriculture, some of the challenges that are to be tackled were food self sufficiency, low productivity and declining rate of factor productivity, farmers distress, fatigue in the rice-wheat system, low and unstable yield in rain fed areas, ecological and environmental society, rapid loss of bio-diversity, degradation of soil and water quality.

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