Lauding the 6.6% growth achieved by the farm sector last fiscal, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today called upon farmers and scientists to work even harder for enhancing the sector's output.
"It is heartening that the country has achieved growth of 6.6% in the farm sector against a target of 4%. But we should not rest upon our laurels, but work harder to increase the pace of growth," Pawar said, addressing a function in his home district.
He attributed the impressive growth in agriculture to the hard labour of farmers and commendable work done by the farm scientists.
"Today India is a leading producer of wheat, rice, fruits, vegetables, milk and eggs in the world and our farmers and scientists should work harder to further this growth," he added.
Pawar pointed out that agriculture sector is facing challenges like depletion of natural resources, soil erosion, post-harvest losses and climate change and asked scientists to work on new technologies to overcome them.
Speaking at the function, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director General S Ayyappan said record foodgrains production of 241.56 million tonne made the 2010-11 crop year (July-June) the best-ever for the country's farm sector since Independence.
Also at the function, National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management (NIAM) Director APR Vittal said the institute was working on newer technologies to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change.