SPEECH BY HER EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, SHRIMATI PRATIBHA DEVISINGH PATIL, AT THE FOUNDATION DAY LECTURE OF THE INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH (ICAR)

NASC Complex, PUSA, New Delhi, 16th July 2008

I convey my heartiest congratulations to the entire family of Indian Council of Agricultural Research on the 79th Anniversary of its Foundation Day. ICAR has generated agricultural technologies and contributed to the Green Revolution, made agriculture more resilient against natural vagaries and helped to ward off threats of famine. This, indeed, is commendable work.

The Foundation Day offers an opportunity to introspect and to pay homage to those who contributed to taking Indian agriculture to great heights. The foremost among them were Bharat Ratna Late Shri C. Subramaniam, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Late Shri Annasaheb P. Shinde, the Minister of State of Agriculture in the 1960s and 1970s. They were the driving force behind the Green Revolution in the country. Belonging to an agriculturist family, Shri Subramaniam came to be known as the architect of India's agricultural developmental policy. He had worked dedicatedly to make India self-sufficient in food grains. Shri Annasaheb Shinde, also an agriculturist, laid emphasis on agricultural research work and was instrumental in the establishment of many agricultural universities. Agriculture was his passion. I appreciate the decision of ICAR to recognize their services by naming the proposed new Auditorium after Shri C. Subramaniam and this particular Hall after Shri Annasaheb Shinde.

The words of Mahatma Gandhi that, India lives in villages, holds true even today as nearly 70 percent of our population resides in rural areas. With more than six lakh villages, with millions of farm families and millions of farm workers, it is difficult to visualize a prosperous India without rural development. Better access to physical infrastructure, to markets as also to health and education services in our villages are essential for bringing prosperity to the rural areas.

Basic to rural prosperity, is the holistic development of agriculture and the allied sectors. Agriculture remains by far the largest employer of our national workforce, providing livelihood to 60 percent of our people. Schemes that increase income options and provide diversified employment like National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme are important for livelihood security in the rural areas. Women undertake approximately 65 percent of the farm work from planting to harvesting and post-harvest operations. Pro-women policies and approaches would invariably result in increased production. I would encourage technological options that take into account gender concerns while designing tools and equipments, particularly which are used by women to make their farm work somewhat easier. I am glad to know that the ICAR has established a National Research Centre on Women in Agriculture for enhancing technological empowerment of women in agriculture and allied sectors.

The state of agriculture constitutes the food security index of a nation. For India, the challenge of feeding its over one billion population, which is growing, is enormous. India supports seventeen percent of the world's population, on less than five percent of the world's water resources and three percent of the global land. The per capita availability of resources is about 4 to 6 times less as compared to the world average. This is likely to further decrease due to demographic factors and pressures from other competing uses for land. But whatever the constraints, we have to provide food security for all as a national priority. I am glad to know that this year we have achieved a record production of 231 million tonnes of foodgrains thus enabling us to stock food granaries. However, the slow growth rate of farm economics is a major challenge before the policy makers and the scientific community. What are the pathways for accelerated growth for agriculture?

Foremost is that we keep agriculture at the centre stage of our development agenda. We must enhance productivity on a constant basis and bring about a second Green Revolution which, along with agro-biotechnology, can translate into an ever-Green Revolution in India. I am told that the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has already taken the initiative to establish one of the world's largest and well organized gene bank of crop genetic resources. Agricultural growth would also depend upon technological inputs relating to water management systems, better seeds and farming practices. I am sure the institutes in the ICAR, the universities and the industry will be able to join hands to develop new technologies in these areas. The research system should intensify linkages with the public and private extension systems at all levels, particularly at the district and lower levels where the actual uptake and impact is seen.

The world has witnessed a revolution of information and communication technologies and our farmer too deserves to be benefited from it. A communication system that provides information about agricultural policies, markets and weather, credit and crop insurance services is important. Knowledge has to be synergized at the village level through "farm knowledge centres" in which Panchayati Raj institutions can play a critical role. The recently launched India Development Gateway Portal by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology could be used extensively for dissemination of information to all our villages.

Land and water both are precious resources of agriculture, their proper use is very important. More than 100 million hectares of potentially productive land is faced with various forms of degradation for which technological interventions are necessary. Also overuse and inappropriate use of chemical fertilizers is affecting soil quality. We need to make available to farmers knowledge about unbalanced and excessive fertilizers use and encourage micro-nutrient application. Water, both in terms of quality and quantity, is now a serious constraint for agriculture in most parts of the country. Hence, adequate care must be taken to develop and scientifically manage irrigation resources. It would be worthwhile to give high priority to "more crop per drop" approach, rainwater harvesting, aquifer recharge, revival of water bodies and conservation technologies. The possibility of connecting rivers in the districts as has been done in some parts of Maharashtra could also be explored.

India is one of the largest producers of food in the world. However, post harvest processing, product development and value additions remain low, thus leading to significant losses, especially in the perishable commodities. Food processing, coupled with marketing, has thus the potential of reducing agriculture wastage and generating employment opportunities.

Agriculture is becoming more knowledge-intensive, technology-led and demand-driven. Our institutions of higher learning must remain ever-vigilant to these aspects and reorient the higher agricultural education to present day challenges. Agricultural schools at taluka level could be established, where they exist and they also need re-orientation. Agricultural research institutions have a responsibility in this regard.

I once again compliment the ICAR on its Foundation Day. I trust that it will continue its work and mainstream its research efforts not only in our fight against poverty, hunger and malnutrition but also in rural industrialization. I pay my respects to Bharat Ratna C. Subramaniam and Annasaheb P. Shinde on this occasion.

Thank you.

JAI HIND

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