FOCUS ON FARMING AND FOOD PRODCUTIVITY: VC UDAIPUR FARM VARSITY

LUDHIANA, MARCH 23:-----



"The emerging challenges in Indian agriculture have gone up manifold. The most striking domestic concern of post-green revolution includes distortions in natural resources (land and water), imbalance in commodity mix, high price and yield risk, increase in small and marginal holdings, unemployment in agriculture, recurrent droughts and natural calamities, declining rate of investment (public and private sector) and increase in inter-regional disparities," stated Dr S.S. Chahal, Vice-Chancellor, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur and a former Dean, Postgraduate Studies, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), while delivering his talk on "Retrospect and prospectus of Indian agriculture." The programme was organized by the PAU Science Club in view of the Golden Jubilee Year of the university. Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, PAU Vice-Chancellor, senior officers, heads, faculty and the students of the university participated in the programme.



Quoting the late Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Chahal said that "Everything else can wait, but not agriculture." The epicenter of green revolution, Punjab, contributes two-third of food grains to the national pool with 1.53 geographical area. Highly mechanized and having 90 per cent irrigated land, the state has the highest share in Gross State Domestic Product in agriculture i.e. 28.5 per cent, he divulged. The PAU has played a pivotal role in making the country self-sufficient in food grains, highlighted Dr Chahal.



Referring to the Father of Green Revolution in India, Dr M.S. Swaminathan, he pointed out, "The agriculture sector in India is entering a state of serious crisis. Half of the farmers in the country want to quit farming. If the food productivity is not increased and farming is neglected, the agriculture of the nation will be in difficulty." He emphasised on pay attention to the researchable issues in the area of crop production which include biotic and abiotic stresses and quality for crop improvement, drought resistance and genetic engineering, microbial biotechnology for diseases and pest management and strategies to bridge demand-supply gap in pulses and oilseed production. Disclosing that horticulture production accounts for 30 per cent of India's agricultural GDP from 8.5 per cent cropped area, Dr Chahal stressed that it requires accelerated production, processing and export due to the increasing demand for commodities. He also laid thrust on natural resource management, climate risk and preparedness, genetic improvement through biotechnology, farmer-friendly farming systems, mega biodiversity and varied agro-climate regions, productivity enhancement, post-harvest management, value addition and agro-processing and agribusiness. Dr Dhillon honoured Dr Chahal with a memento. Earlier, the Dean, Postgraduate Studies, Dr Gusharan Singh welcomed the dignitaries and the participants.




News From: http://www.7StarNews.com