New Delhi: Observing that few states are shouldering the burden of feeding the entire country, Food and Agriculture Minister today asked under-performing states to "introspect" and bridge "regional disparities" in farm output.
"In a country as vast as ours, the dependence on seven to
eight states to feed the nation is not prudent... regional
disparity in production across various states needs to be
addressed," Pawar said here at an India Today conclave.
The ministers noted that only few states are bearing the
major burden of producing and supplying wheat and rice to the
central pool. "There are hardly three or four states — Punjab,
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh — which have taken major responsibility
to produce wheat and practically our 85-90 per cent of the
procurement (of wheat) is from Punjab, Haryana and UP."
Similarly, about 80-85 per cent of rice are produced and
procured mainly from Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, West
Bengal and Orissa, he added.
"Ultimately, if these six to seven states are going to
produce wheat and rice and are going to cater for the entire
country, I think we will have to give a serious thought about
it," Pawar explained.
The minister sought equal accountability from all states
to produce more to feed India's vast population.
"The states not providing enough to the agriculture
sector need to introspect and come forward to willingly
shoulder their responsibility for ensuring a buoyant
agriculture sector," he said.
Pawar said states need to invest in farm technology and
create infrastructure for marketing, warehousing and
processing. For greater inflow of funds for the development of
infrastructure, the minister invited private sector.
"Private investment in building the value chains through
warehouses, cold chains and terminal markets will enable us to
handle out agriculture produce in a more efficient and
hygienic manner," Pawar said, while asking states to remove
barriers in regulatory framework to facilitate investment.
He also asked the states to leverage funds from Centrally
sponsored schemes like the Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojana and
the National Food Security Mission for this purpose.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, September 14, 2009, 20:43