PM reviews status of agriculture in Maharashtra

A year after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Vidarbha region in Maharashtra and announced a 37.5-billion-rupee relief package, he today reviewed the status of agriculture in the state.

Mumbai, Aug 31 : A year after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Vidarbha region in Maharashtra and announced a 37.5-billion-rupee relief package, he today reviewed the status of agriculture in the state.

Calling agriculture a "national priority," Singh emphasised the need to work hard to ensure that this sector grows in tandem with the rest of the economy.

Admitting that the growth rate of agriculture in Maharashtra was unsatisfactory in the 9th Plan and in the first three years of the 10th Plan, Singh, however, said there has been a recovery in the last two years.

"The farm sector is emerging from a long period of stagnation. Production is registering an increase in many crops. Sugarcane has turned in a spectacular performance," he said.

He said that a number of bold reform initiatives have been taken up to improve agriculture's status. Pointing out that Maharashtra has many inherent advantages, Singh said it was possible to build on these advantages to take agriculture to the next level of operations.

"This would enhance farmers' incomes and reduce distress," he said, adding, "We need to ask as to why, in-spite of these favourable circumstances, agriculture has stagnated for over a decade?"

Underlining the areas of concern, he said that productivity of major crops has stagnated for a decade. He figured irrigation as another area of concern, saying that only 16 percent of the crop area of Maharashtra is irrigated.

"There is a major overhang of incomplete irrigation projects requiring over Rs 40,000 crores to complete them. However, the actual irrigation potential added in the last decade is not large. The state needs to see how it can generate the funds needed to complete these projects," he said.

He called for differentiated agricultural strategies for each region of the state, and said that focus needed to be on providing "life saving or fallback irrigation and on other income generating activities such as animal husbandry."

"Improvements in agriculture should be visible across all regions," Singh stressed.

ANI