Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said a second Green Revolution is needed to increase farm production and control rising food prices.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said a second Green Revolution is needed to increase farm production and control rising food prices, as well as to meet the grain requirement under the proposed Food Law.
Singh assured farmers that the government would take steps in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) to ensure easy access to fertilizers, seeds and credit and would boost irrigation facilities to reduce dependence on monsoon.
"We need a second Green Revolution in agriculture. We can tackle the problem of rising food prices only by increasing agricultural production and productivity.
"We also need to increase agricultural production to implement a food security law. We will accelerate our efforts in this direction in the 12th Plan," he said addressing the nation on the 65th Independence Day.
The Prime Minister also said that the government will soon introduce the National Food Security Act.
"After the rights to education, employment and information, we will soon enact a legislation for providing food security to the people," he said.
Under the proposed Food Security Act, the government plans to give legal entitlement to nearly 70 per cent of the country's population on cheaper foodgrains. The bill has been approved by the empowered group of ministers and would soon be presented in Parliament.
Singh praised farmers for achieving record foodgrains production of 241.56 million tonnes in the 2010-11 (July-June) and helping the country to export sugar and cotton.
Food inflation for the last week of July inched closer to double digits mark at 9.9 per cent.
The first Green Revolution started in late 1960s but its success was limited to northern states like Punjab and Haryana.
"Today, I wish to assure our farmer brothers and sisters, particularly those who are small and marginal, that we will continue to take care of their special needs.
"It will be our endeavour to ensure that our farmers have easy access to fertilizers, seeds and credit. We also want to provide the best possible irrigation facilities to the farmers so that their dependence on rains is reduced," Singh said.
The government provided Rs 4,26,531 crore during 2010-11 as farm credit against the target of Rs 3,75,000 crore. For this year, the target has been set at Rs 4,75,000 crore.
The interest rates on farm loans for those farmers who pay their dues in time has also been reduced to 4 per cent from this fiscal as against 5 per cent.
About 60 per cent of India's population is dependent on agriculture, but the sector contributes only about 15 per cent to the total GDP of the country. About 60 per cent of the total cultivable area is dependent on monsoon.
"I congratulate ... farmers for their achievements this year. The production of foodgrains has been at a record level. Wheat, maize, pulses and oilseeds have all seen record levels of production. It is because of the hard work of our farmers that today there are proposals for export of foodgrains, sugar and cotton," Singh said.
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