Address at the Kisan Mela Punjab Agriculture University

ENRICHING AGRICULTURE THROUGH INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

I am delighted to participate in the inauguration of the Kisan Mela organised by the Punjab Agriculture University. My greetings to the Kisans, Vice Chancellor, faculty members, research scientists and students of the University. I congratulate the Kisans of Punjab and the members of this University for promoting technology based intensive agriculture in this area leading to food security and growth in export potential of the nation.

Evolution of First Green Revolution

I was a young boy in Rameswaram during the post independent period. At that time I vividly recall the village community eagerly awaiting for the wheat ship to reach the Madras port so that wheat can reach the village by road. This was the main feeding force for the country in those days. The country used to have hardly a week's reserve and any delay in the arrival of the ship would cause severe supply problems. This situation was prevalent till the early 60's. The Green Revolution Programme was launched by Shri C. Subramaniam with the help of the scientists, entrepreneurs and the farmer community, particularly belonging to Punjab. In addition, what was needed was a good water management system, availability of high quality seeds, good storage facility and proper distribution mechanism. These facilities were provided by the Government through its various development schemes. This has led to intensive agriculture in the State which produced a substantial amount of food grains and liberated us from the situation of what is called "ship to mouth existence". As part of this first green revolution, the country has been able to produce 200 million tonnes of grains per year.

Second Green Revolution

It is the right time for India to embark upon the Second Green Revolution which will enable it to increase its productivity in the agricultural sector. The production of cereals needs to increase from the present 200 million tonnes to over 300 million tonnes by 2020 in view of population growth. But the requirement of land for the increasing population as well as for greater afforestation and environmental preservation activities would demand that the present 170 million hectares of arable land will have to be brought down to 100 million hectares by 2020. All our agricultural scientists and technologists have to work for doubling the productivity of the available land with lesser area being available for cultivation. The type of technologies needed would be in the areas of biotechnology, proper training to the farmers, additional modern equipments for preservation and storage etc. The second green revolution is indeed graduating from grain production to food processing and marketing as visualised by the late Shri. C. Subramaniam. While doing so, utmost care should be taken for various environmental and people related aspects leading to sustainable development.

Soil upgradation

Over a period of time by continuous usage of fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides, there is a deterioration in the quality of soil. The soil rejuvenation is an important area for the specialists to tackle with specific emphasis on recuperation of it's nutritional characteristics. Some of this could be done through organic farming and use of vermi-compost. We also need to adopt cycling of crops. In addition, there is a need to work for removing the abiotic stress through use of bio-technology.

Quality of Seeds

The quality of the seeds need to be improved for enabling farming in areas where the soil has salinity and the environmental temperature gradient is high. This can be achieved through production of salinity tolerant and temperature tolerant seeds. In addition, seeds also have to be resistant to the stress induced by the residual effect of the pesticides and insecticides. Universities and the research organizations have to play a major role in developing, producing and supplying such seeds to the farmers and with a view to market advantages.

Water management

The overall availability of water is continuously reducing and many of our fields are dependent on timely arrival of good monsoon. It is high time we have an overall water management plan for conservation of water, preparation of water shed schemes, rainwater harvesting and repeated water re-cycling. These measures will prevent loss of a crop by using the harvested water for nursery development and delaying transplantation in case of late arrival of monsoon. Moreover, emphasis is required to be given on the effective utilization of available water, not only by the farmers but also by all the citizens. Local government bodies dealing with the supply of water have to play a vital role in effective and equitable distribution of water to all the members of the village community. Apart from this, farmers can adopt dry land cultivation schemes developed by research laboratories such as ICRISAT, Hyderabad.

Innovation in agro-processing

There is a need to examine the products which are demanded by the new life-styles of the modern generation. For example, special type of corn is required for making corn flakes and unique potato crop for making wafers. Hence farmers are required to take the demand of the end processed product into account while selecting the crop. Government agencies should facilitate dissemination of such information for enabling the farmers to get better value for their increased output.

The agro-processing industry has to take into account the retention of the nutritional value, possible side effects due to the use of additives and preservatives for increasing the storage life and aesthetic, eco-friendly and cost effective packaging. In addition the agriculture and agro-processing industry in India have to master many new standards and perceptions for cleanliness, generally described as phytosanitary requirements.

Farmers can realize better value from the agricultural residue by paying special attention to its usage into organic farming a nd making value added products out of it before disposal.

Unique farming experience

I would like to share with you an experience of one of the farmers in Haldwani district in Uttaranchal. He grows dwarf Papayas, mangoes, soyabeans, ginger, flowers such as gladiolas, coronation and marigold and also few medicinal plants. This is done through total organic farming and use of vermi-compost. The method of multi-cropping such as simultaneous growing of Papaya and ginger and rotation of different crops during different seasons lead not only to continuous utilization of the land throughout the year but also rejuvenation of the soil characteristics. Apart from this, he produces organic milk by feeding organically grown fodder to the cattle. To maintain the soil quality, he ensures that the weeding is done manually. The overall economics of this type of farming results in generation of 500% increase in the income for the same area using conventional methods. I would also like to mention the experience of Bihar farmers. Intensive training was given to the farmers by renowned scientists which included use of genetically modified of seeds to suit the soil, right type of fertilizer and proper water management and also the importance of when to sow the seed. Many cooperative societies were activated for seed, fertilizer supplies and water management. This experiment resulted in to 6 tonnes yield from 2 tonnes. Approach to such innovations will vary as different types of farming techniques would suit different types of soil and agro-climatic conditions.

State initiatives

Punjab State Government has conceived an innovative and comprehensive contract farming programme. The programme is targeted to cover 2.5 million acres of cultivable area in the State. The special feature of this programme is that the farmers are assured of a minimum return which in turn is based on buy-back arrangements with private industry and involvement of extension service companies. The State Government has also finalized the preparation of several agro-processing projects of world class standards which will bring another million acres of crops other than wheat and paddy, leading to export of ethnic and speciality vegetables of international quality to U.K., Middle East and other European countries.

Economic Analysis

Finance experts say, economic growth potential is possible by doubling GDP growth rate to about 9% and sustaining it for a few years. It was announced in the Conference of Governors by Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission that National Development Council has decided in the 10th Plan period to have a target of 8% GDP growth-rate and creation of 10 million jobs annually. A major share of the GDP growth has to come from agriculture, agro-processing and rural development.

Role of Information Technology

Information Technology should be used for maintaining an updated and enriched database of region specific agricultural information and timely dissemination of the information pertaining to soil enrichment, seed selection, actions relating to arrival of monsoon etc. to the farmers. In addition, information regarding agricultural product preferences - both national and international, demand-supply status in respect of different products and the current price should be made available on-line to the farmers for taking timely decisions on crop product diversification strategies and positioning of the same in right market to get optimum revenue. The grass-root level democratic institutions should take the lead in central acquisition of the latest information using IT as a tool and make it available to the farmers.

PURA

As you are aware, our Prime Minister in his Independence Day Announcements, has declared a Rural Development Programme called PURA i.e. Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas. It involves identification of rural clusters with growth potential and creating four types of connectivities for them -

(i) Road, transportation and power connectivity

(ii) electronic connectivity in the form of reliable telecom, Internet and IT services

(iii) knowledge connectivity in the form of good educational and training institutions, and

(iv) market connectivity that would enable kisans and others to get the best prices for their produce.

The four types of connectivities in PURA will collectively bring forth the economic prosperity of rural community.

The physical connectivity through good roads encompassing the villages and marketing place, enables fast movement of input to the village as well as off take of the output to the processing centres and market. Electronic connectivity will provide the IT services such as e-commerce, for the benefit of the rural population through a central agency. Knowledge connectivity will ensure good education for the children and training for the farmers and agro-processing industries. Market connectivity will ensure the kisans to get the best price for their produce.

70% of our population live in the villages. The development of the nation lies in the development and economic connectivity of the villages. Agriculture has a major share in village development and PURA is an effective instrument for ensuring that development. This, in addition to providing food security to the nation, will remove the poverty of the 260 million people below poverty line and lead to balanced distribution of wealth. Let us work together for making this mega PURA mission, a grand success.

Conclusion

I find, whenever the use, users and implementers as well as knowledge & skill possessors are linked and networked, success comes effectively and multiplies. As it is said, a networked resource can give a non-linear progressive addition to development growth. To reach from the GDP growth of 6% to 10% rates we need such non-linear steps. Friends, ignition of young population of any country, is one of the important resources. India possesses this in plenty. India has natural resources in all key sectors. It has a good knowledge base. It may be applicable to many nations. Networking these is crucial to realise the strength. The focus of the country would be for the second vision for a Developed India by 2020.

My best wishes to all of you.