Time for intervention in agriculture: FM

In a clear hint of his future plans to revive the moribund agricultural sector, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said, "The time has come to make a determined and decisive intervention in agriculture in order to boost productivity".

In a lecture delivered at the London School of Economics today, Chidambaram said the agriculture sector was a formidable challenge. The government had taken a number of corrective steps over the last three years, but falling agricultural productivity and increase in farmers' distress were causes of concern, he added.

Chidambaram said the government had devised a multi-pronged strategy to revive the agriculture sector, which included rapid expansion of irrigation facilities, extension of credit and introduction of new technologies.

It had also offered remunerative prices for farm produce, besides supplementing farm income with incomes from allied activities such as dairy, inland fisheries, poultry and animal husbandry, he added.

"I am reassured by the indicators available to us that growth in the second half of this fiscal will be close to 9 per cent. If these indicators turn out to be correct, the GDP growth rate for the current year will be the highest since reforms were initiated in 1991," he said.

"We have every reason to believe that India is poised to witness an investment boom which will take its economy to an even higher growth path," he added.

Lamenting the poor enrolment ratio in the higher education front, Chidambaram said, "We are in the process of expanding capacity in all institutions of higher education by 50 per cent over the next three years. We are conscious that while we add to the quantity we must also pay attention to quality."