A sub-committee on agriculture, appointed by the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry, met for the first time and decided to come up with a plan to achieve higher growth in the agriculture sector through public sector involvement.
India’s average farm growth in the first three years of the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2007-12) has been only 2.2 per cent, against the target of 4 per cent for the entire period. The mid-term appraisal has estimated the average growth to be around 3 per cent.
“Compared to other sectors, growth in the agriculture sector is lagging. We deliberated on the role of trade and industry in enhancing agricultural production to meet the country’s food security,” Agriculture Secretary P K Basu told reporters after the meeting.
The sub-committee on “enhancing agriculture production and food security” was formed on May 26 and comprises Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani and Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Chairman and Managing Director Jamshyd Godrej, among other prominent industrialists and government officials.
Members agreed agriculture and manufacturing required focus, as called for by the prime minister. Members also felt farmers took the highest risks, so agriculture policies needed to be developed and reformed in a way that farming became an assured and remunerative business. Post-production management required to be tailored to eliminate post-harvest losses and provide quality products to consumers at reasonable prices.
Godrej said: “We discussed how to boost food production for the next 10 years, and how the private sector can be involved in enhancing foodgrain production and increase the income of farmers.”
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Another member, M S Banga, former CEO of Hindustan Unilever, said: “We are trying to push the priority button in agriculture as food demand is expected to increase with the rise in population and the income of people.”
The sub-committee felt the prime minister should be presented with major ideas to transform the agriculture sector and an action plan to bring this about. It decided to hold one more meeting in the third week of August to discuss and finalise its recommendations.