Time for green revolution-II
To sustain the India growth story, the country’s central bank has made out a case for launching a second green revolution.
By TNN |
MUMBAI: To sustain the India growth story, the country’s central bank has made out a case for launching a second green revolution.
Although the economy has grown at an average of well over 7% during the past two years, the growth of the farm sector has been well below the projected annual growth of 4% for the Tenth Plan period. I
t has been recognised by economists and planners that if the farm sector grows at 4% and matches the annual growth of over 7%, recorded by industry and services, India’s economic growth may well leapfrog to close to double digit figures. This is what RBI also seems to have in mind.
The central bank’s observation comes at a time when fall in production and stock of food grains, coupled with spiralling prices have raised concern in various quarters. RBI has called for change in law to enable contract farming, pledge financing, trading, export and the introduction of a negotiable warehousing receipt system.
While assessing the prospects for the economy for this fiscal, it has said that the time was opportune for a second green revolution. The emphasis, this time around, should be on diversifying the farm sector further with an eye on capturing new market opportunities, it said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The central bank has further suggested diversification and value addition in Indian agriculture, a shift of land and other resources to crops with higher potential for value addition and tapping opportunities for export growth in areas such as horticulture, floriculture, dairying, sericulture and floriculture.The focus on the farm sector for further bolstering growth in the world’s second fastest growing economy has come about considering the low real GDP growth in the sector. In ’04-05, when the economy grew 7.5%, the farm sector growth was 0.7%.
In ’06-07, the economy grew by 8.4% with the farm sector chipping in with a growth of 3.9%. President Abdul Kalam had called for a second green revolution three years ago to raise productivity in the farm sector given the decline in the arable land. PM Manmohan Singh had also said in the past that there was a need for increased capital investment in the farm sector.
RBI feels that India has a large enough domestic market to facilitate a more rapid growth in agriculture. However, this would call for legislative, institutional and attitudinal changes to supplement enhanced public and private investment, it says apart from the focus on farm research.
Growth in this sector would largely accrue from improvements in productivity of diversified farming systems, the report says while adding that improvements in marketing infrastructure would also help in farm sector production.
The report says that there was a need to put in place proper risk mitigation policies and to promote micro-irrigation technology.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
