Centre to bring out national agricultural strategy

The Centre, as part of its 11th Five Year Plan, will present a national agricultural strategy within a period of two months in order to achieve the agricultural growth rate target of 4 per cent, said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, at a seminar on Corporate Role in Rural Development, organized by the Madras Management Association.

In preparation of the national agricultural strategy, the Planning Commission would include inputs from various categories, including different agencies, research institutions, corporates and National Farmers' Commission.

Emphasizing on agricultural related development activities, Ahluwalia said, "It is possible to achieve 4 per cent growth in agriculture, provided agricultural-related developmental activities like irrigation, power supply in rural areas and construction of roads are given enough thrust. It is not possible to achieve this growth without proper infrastructure."

Citing technological breakthroughs during the Green Revolution in the late 60s and early 70s, Ahluwalia said that only yield breakthroughs were not sufficient. Marketing and technological breakthroughs should also happen, where the corporates can play an important role.

"Corporates are the best when it comes to taking risks and handling logistics chain and also, they are best connected to the market. They should use their abilities to promote modern marketing, which can be used to bridge the huge gap between what the consumer pays and what the farmer gets."

Though corporate's role in modern marketing has attracted a fairly deep suspicion, the system has been successful in other countries, he said.