'State should lead 2nd Green Revolution'

MUMBAI: The agriculture scenario in Maharashtra, as things stand today, can hardly be termed inspiring. In spite of this ground reality, an optimistic Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants the state to lead the second Green Revolution for the country. He has asked the state to unlock its agriculture potential to raise farmers’ income and stem agrarian distress.

Undertaking a review of the progress made in the farm sector in Maharashtra here on Friday, the PM expressed his satisfaction over the implementation of the central package on farm suicides in six districts of Vidarbha.

A team of agriculture officials made a power-point presentation before the prime minister on the state’s expectations from the National Development Council’s Rs 25,000-crore agriculture investment plan, implementation of the Vidarbha package, the status of sugarcane farmers and the sugar industry, and measures taken to scale up Maharashtra’s irrigation potential.

Later, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar told reporters that the state had given a commitment to the prime minister to achieve 4.4% annual growth in the farm sector during the 11th Plan period. At present, Maharashtra’s agriculture sector is growing at an abysmally low rate of 1%. “Maharashtra has done extremely well in extending the formal crop credit,” Mr Pawar said.

The minister, however, refused to get drawn into the debate over the suicide statistics. “I don’t want to get into the numbers. But on the basis of the information that the state has shared with the Centre at the meeting, I can confidently say that the number of suicides has substantially dropped,” Mr Pawar claimed.