Need to revive agriculture urgently: Panel

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SME Times News Bureau | 17 Feb, 2012
Flagging a "sense of urgency to the need of transforming Indian agriculture", a panel of governors set up by President Pratibha Patil will submit its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by February-end, one of her top aides said Thursday.

"The president wants to attach a sense of urgency to the need to transform Indian agriculture," the secretary to the president, Christy Fernandez, told reporters. "The country needs a second green revolution."

The need for increasing food production has assumed significance in the wake of the proposed National Food Security Bill, he said.

Patil constituted the panel, headed by Punjab and Rajasthan governor Shivraj Patil, in October last year as she is "deeply concerned about the present state of Indian agriculture".

"The panel will submit its report to the prime minister by February-end so that the finance minister can incorporate some of the recommendations in the budget," Fernandez said.

He was speaking at a media interaction here after a day-long workshop on improving agriculture in rain-fed and dryland areas Wednesday.

He said a regulatory mechanism to settle disputes between farmers and private firms, organising farmer groups, use of modern technology and a knowledge based approach were needed to revitalise Indian agriculture.