Farm allocation set for big hike, says Pawar

A big hike in allocation for the agricultural sector was expected in the forthcoming Union Budget, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said here today.

The UPA government had increased allocation for the farm sector in the last Budget considerably and it was expected to be increased further in the next Budget, Pawar said while addressing a farmers' gathering here.

"During the NDA regime, the allocation was Rs 80,000 crore and under UPA, it was increased to Rs 1.15 lakh crore last year and this year, we plan to hike it to Rs 1.40 lakh crore", Pawar said.

The government had also decided to double the quantum of agricultural loans within three years, Pawar said.

The Centre was also planning a watershed development authority, Pawar said, adding that a provision of Rs 450 crore was being made for subsidy for sprinkler systems.

There was also a proposal for providing 40 per cent Central and 10 per cent state subsidy for purchasing sprinkler sets, he said. The farmers were expected to pay 10 per cent while banks would give loans for the balance 40 per cent, he added.

Referring to a spate of farmers' suicides in Maharashtra and other parts of the country, Pawar said the central and the state governments and farmers would have to sit together to find out ways to resolve the problem.

Decrying the media coverage of the avian flu outbreak, Pawar asked people to eat chicken "with a vengeance" as the poultry industry had been adversely affected by the panic.

"After the reportage on TV channels, we stopped eating chickens and eggs for no reason. Even Parliament canteen stopped serving chicken. Railways, airlines and Army followed suit," Pawar said while inaugurating a cattle and dairy development expo here.

"Let vegetarians eat vegetable or grass. Start consuming chickens with full fervour so that the backlog of the past fortnight when poultry consumption had stopped can be cleared," he said, adding that over 20 lakh eggs were in danger of rotting if not consumed within the next couple of days.

"There are reports of police and municipal officers stopping entry of poultry vehicles into urban areas. Since when has it become their duty to check poultry?," he asked.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh asked people to start an "eat chicken campaign" to dispel the fear created by the bird flu scare in the state.

Addressing the gathering, comprising mostly farmers from various parts of the country, Pawar said the dairy business in the country was worth Rs 35,000 crore and grew by 17 per cent last year.