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Kalam calls for second green revolution
Ludhiana, Sept 05: President A P J Abdul Kalam said yesterday that the country must work towards bringing about the second green revolution that would be oriented more towards processing and exports than the mere objective of providing food to the people.
Ludhiana, Sept 05: President A P J Abdul Kalam said yesterday that the country must work towards bringing about the second green revolution that would be oriented more towards processing and exports than the mere objective of providing food to the people.
"India had already come a long way from the situation when food had to be imported from countries like USA. We are surplus in food and are now exporting food and food products to several countries, Kalam said, inaugurating a the two day ‘kisan mela’ organised by Punjab Agricultural University here.
Punjab was at the vanguard of the first green revolution and was well placed to trigger the second green revolution by encouraging a new way of life for the farmers, he said.
Referring to the Prime Minister's Independence Day speech, he said in order to bring the standard of living in villages at par with that in cities the country must provide better connectivity to villages with the help of network of roads and transportation, telecommunication and information technology.
Only through the development of villages could national target of 6-10 per cent of GDP be achieved, he said adding that India must become a developed country by the year 2020.
"It is only through increased agricultural production resulting in prosperity that our children could become better and enlightened citizens."
The President was loudly cheered as he started his address in Hindi. He switched over to English later, telling the audience he was in he process of learning Hindi.
K S Aulakh, the vice chancellor of PAU, rendered the President's speech into Punjabi.
The President administered an oath to all the farmers who repeated the words in loud chorus.
The points of the oath were: "children are our precious wealth; we shall give equal importance to boys and girls in education and other rights; we shall teach our children the importance of education which is an instrument of empowerment.
We shall not destroy our hard earned money in gambling and drinking. We shall restrict the size of our families for better health and prosperity. We shall stop pollution and jointly do our best to conserve our forest wealth; each one of us will plant at least five trees."
Punjab Governor O P Verma said on the occasion that the agricultural scientists were facing a challenge as the fast expanding industries were eating up cultivable land.
Earlier the president inaugurated the agricultural exhibition and an advanced training centre for higher studies built with the assistance of the World Bank.
Bureau Report
Punjab was at the vanguard of the first green revolution and was well placed to trigger the second green revolution by encouraging a new way of life for the farmers, he said.
Referring to the Prime Minister's Independence Day speech, he said in order to bring the standard of living in villages at par with that in cities the country must provide better connectivity to villages with the help of network of roads and transportation, telecommunication and information technology.
Only through the development of villages could national target of 6-10 per cent of GDP be achieved, he said adding that India must become a developed country by the year 2020.
"It is only through increased agricultural production resulting in prosperity that our children could become better and enlightened citizens."
The President was loudly cheered as he started his address in Hindi. He switched over to English later, telling the audience he was in he process of learning Hindi.
K S Aulakh, the vice chancellor of PAU, rendered the President's speech into Punjabi.
The President administered an oath to all the farmers who repeated the words in loud chorus.
The points of the oath were: "children are our precious wealth; we shall give equal importance to boys and girls in education and other rights; we shall teach our children the importance of education which is an instrument of empowerment.
We shall not destroy our hard earned money in gambling and drinking. We shall restrict the size of our families for better health and prosperity. We shall stop pollution and jointly do our best to conserve our forest wealth; each one of us will plant at least five trees."
Punjab Governor O P Verma said on the occasion that the agricultural scientists were facing a challenge as the fast expanding industries were eating up cultivable land.
Earlier the president inaugurated the agricultural exhibition and an advanced training centre for higher studies built with the assistance of the World Bank.
Bureau Report