Speech of Hon’ble Minister of State for Agriculture , National Productivity Awards for Agriculture on 24th September 2009,
Venue: Scope Auditorium, Scope Complex, New Delhi.
Shri N.C. Vasudevan, Director General, National Productivity Council, Ms Dimple Verma, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, other officials, awardees, Ladies and Gentlemen!
On the occasion of National Productivity Awards Ceremony, I would like to convey my felicitations to all the winners of the coveted award. I am happy to know that the search for the award winners was carried out across the length and breadth of the country. Thus, these Awards are not only a recognition of the excellent work done by the organizations in improving productivity of the sector but also represent their participation in the country’s march ahead. I am sure that this well deserving recognition will enthuse the awardees to contribute more in the coming years. I congratulate all of them.
Agriculture plays an important role in the rural economy of the country. This sector provides gainful employment as well as raw materials for a large number of industries. The rate of growth in agricultural sector which accounts for almost all rural income requires further intensification of our efforts and a proactive approach to meet the challenges of food security and food demand of increasing population.
This rapid growth of Agriculture is essential for achieving the inclusive growth objective, as envisaged in the 11th Five Year Plan. The contribution of Agriculture in the growth of GDP will further improve rural employment conditions by raising real wages and reducing underemployment
One of the major challenges of the 11th Five Year Plan are to reverse the deceleration in Agricultural growth that the economy is experiencing over the last decade and increasing the Agricultural growth rate by at least double the current levels.
It is vital to increase Agricultural incomes, as this sector is the largest employer and provider of livelihood for an overwhelming majority of the country’s population. Also, the threats of persistent climate change and some what reduced monsoon call for sound managerial strategies to avert food shortages.
It is also important to recognize demographic realities particularly, the role of women in Agriculture. Since urban migration and consequent feminization of farm activities are showing an increasing trend, women need to be given well-defined rights to reduce distress and thereby increase Agricultural growth. It is encouraging to note that NPC is propagating productivity as an evolving concept with due emphasis on issues and concerns relating to quality, environment, energy, integrated rural and community development and women workers.
Growth in Agriculture would not only enable us to be self-reliant but also help meet the food and nutritional security of the people. This is also essential for equitable distribution of income and wealth in rural areas, and for reducing poverty and improving the quality of life.
Achieving 4% Agricultural growth along with maintaining prices and profitability requires a corresponding increase in demand for Agricultural output matched with the supply side response, based on productivity improvements.
With the increase in trade and globalisation, Indian Agricultural sector has been opened to new opportunity as well as challenges. To remain competitive in this new economic scenario, it is essential to increase the productivity of the sector by diversification into higher value output, for example Horticulture, Floriculture etc. Besides raising farmers’ income, this would result in better utilization of resources, creation of employment and growth of activities other than growing foodgrains. Allied sectors such as fisheries, dairying, food processing are also being given an impetus to achieve nutrient security, employment and rise in rural incomes.
Government of India has duly recognized the problems faced by the Agricultural sector and is taking all possible steps to increase the productivity of the Agricultural sector. Improved rural connectivity envisaged through the Bharat Nirman Programme is expected to trigger growth by significantly easing existing infrastructure constraints.
Government is also taking effective steps to enable farmers to have easy access to credit at affordable rates. Access to financial resources not only helps them to exploit investment opportunities but also reduces their vulnerability to shocks, and promotes economic growth.
In this era of globalisation and trade liberalization the productivity and competitiveness of the Agricultural sector also depends to a large extent on effective marketing of the Agricultural produce.
In order to facilitate farmer in marketing and storage of their produce, Government is implementing the schemes of Gramin Bhandaran Yojana, construction of cold storage and development/strengthening of the Agricultural marketing infrastructure as well as grading and standardisation. A network of rural godowns and cold storages is also being created throughout India to provide the facility of safe and scientific storage to the farming community thus avoiding produce deterioration and distress sales.
Land and water management also would need to be given highest priority as the productivity growth in Indian Agriculture depends to a large extent on the quality of soil and efficient utilization of water.
In recent years the land use pattern has been changing. Though conversion of Agricultural to non-agricultural land is an unavoidable concomitant of the development process, we need to ensure that this does not put undue pressure on Agriculture or lead to inefficient or suboptimal land-use. It is necessary to offset the loss of Agricultural land by bringing more land under intensive cultivation. There is a large amount of degraded or waste land that can be reclaimed through watershed development. There is also a considerable amount of saline and sodic land, which can be brought back to cultivation with appropriate treatment. For watershed development, the state governments may converge wherever possible, with other Rural Development programmes like National Rural Employment Guarantee Programmme (NREGP).
Water is a scarce but critical input for Agriculture. This calls for more effective utilization of existing irrigation potential, expansion of irrigation, wherever possible, at an economic cost and also better water management in rainfed areas where assured irrigation is not possible. Watershed Management, Rainwater Harvesting, and Ground Water Recharge can help augment water availability in rainfed areas.
The dry-land farming system approach, which leads to improved soil moisture retention; ground water recharging; and facilitates alternate land use by adopting an ‘Agri-Horti-Livestock’ approach, needs to be promoted to enhance productivity and sustainability of dry-land agriculture in rain-fed areas. The National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) has been established to coordinate all Schemes relating to Watershed Development and other aspects of land use. This will address the problems being faced by the farmers in rain-fed areas in a holistic manner.
Sustained long-run growth depends significantly upon technological progress and steps are, therefore, needed to strengthen research in Agriculture. The government is giving priority in agriculture research in terms of increased investment. Research priorities are gradually shifting towards evolving cropping systems suited to various agro-climatic conditions and towards enhancing the yield potential in rain fed areas through development of drought and pest resistant varieties.
The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) has drawn attention to the knowledge deficit that exists at present and explains much of the difference between yields realized in experiments and what farmers actually get. To overcome information gaps and for advice in contingencies such as pest-attacks, it is necessary to revitalize the extension system in a manner that links universities and best practices effectively to farmers. States need to take urgent steps in this area.
It is heartening to note that National Productivity Council is playing a catalytic role in promoting productivity of the Agricultural sector and has taken into account majority of the stakeholders under the 14 categories, who play a critical role in the growth process of the agricultural sector.
Taking Agriculture to a higher trajectory of 4% annual growth can be met only with improvements in the scale as well as quality of Agricultural reforms undertaken by states and various Agencies at the grass root level of operation. On this occasion of National Productivity Awards distribution ceremony I appeal to all the stakeholders to join their hands in enhancing the productivity of the Agricultural sector.
Let me once again express my heartfelt felicitations to the winners of the Awards. I hope that NPC will continue to motivate Indian farmers and Agricultural organizations to strive for ever higher productivity that is so crucial for achieving the targeted growth in Agriculture during the 11th Five Year Plan.
Jai Hind
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FISHERIES MINISTERS, PONTEVEDRA, SPAIN
Hon’ble Ministers of Fisheries of different countries,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me immense pleasure to be here with all of you for the International Conference of State Fisheries Ministers. I eagerly look forward to discussing the possible strategies to realize the vast potential we have to augment fish production, thereby making it a viable and rewarding economic activity.
India has been playing an important role in global fisheries as the third largest producer of fish in the world and the second largest producer from aquaculture. In the last six decades, marine fish production in India has increased from 0.5 million tonnes to 3.2 million tonnes. The rate of growth has slowed in the nineties as compared to 1960-1990. Though marine fish production in India did not show consistent decline over the time scale, there are several sustainability concerns that demand immediate as well as long-term solutions.
Potential yield estimates indicate that the annual harvestable potential yield from the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is 3.9 million tonnes. As the present production is approaching the potential yield, the country has reached a stage in which further increase in production may have to be viewed with caution. The issues in the sector are excess coastal fishing fleet capacity and overexploitation, unregulated open access fisheries, discards at capture and indiscriminate capture of juveniles, biodiversity loss, pollution and underutilisation of deep sea resources. While natural disasters like cyclones have been a common feature, the tsunami of 2004 added a new dimension to the demands of our preparedness.
Marine fisheries along the 8,000 kilometres coastline of the country including two major island ecosystems provides for direct and indirect livelihood of over 10 million fishers and their families. India is a country with a large number of small scale fishermen harvesting multispecies resources with an array of craft-gear combinations. It is extremely difficult to devise common management strategies that would satisfy the interests of all sections of small scale fishermen as well as sustain fish resources. Fishing closure for 45 to 60 days by mechanized fishing boats is being followed every year all along the coast. In spite of promulgation of Marine Fishing Regulation Act (MFRA) by maritime state governments, licensing of craft, catch declaration, ceiling on number and efficiency of fishing craft, monitoring, control and surveillance of fishing vessels remain as issues. A fisherman in India produces only 3.5 tonnes of fish per year as compared to more than 100 tonnes per year in EU countries. Alternate livelihood in mariculture and sea-related tourism will be able to absorb only a fraction of the fishermen population. Relocating a large number of fishermen with alternate employment is possible only by providing them skills of related kinds, that would be a long-term process.
Conservation and sustainable use of fisheries in the maritime zones of India is being accorded priority. In this direction, apart from emphasising on the implementation of MFRAs, the Marine Fisheries (Regulation and Management) Act, 2009 is being promulgated to regulate fishing activities in the EEZ beyond territorial waters. Several marine species have been listed under endangered species and their fishing prohibited. The programme of diversification and reduction of excess capacity of coastal fishing vessels has been taken up, along with activities of monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) and vessel monitoring system (VMS) in the pipeline. Keeping the open access of the system in view, a comprehensive fishing vessel registration system is being put in place. Sea safety measures are an integral component of these initiatives.
It has been recognized that Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) is a better option compared to single-species management. Designation of over 26 Marine Protected Areas, sanctuaries and marine parks to the extent of about 3% of Indian coastline has served as areas banned from fishing, that is proposed to be further enhanced. In a country with about 3,200 marine fishing villages, which are littered at a distance of every two kilometers along the coastline, implementing EBFM is a challenge. Hence, programmes for creation of awareness and sensitisation of fishers all along the coastline have been undertaken. Further, in line with the international instruments, the guidelines for deep sea fishing have been reviewed last year to enhance the efforts in this segment.
Intense efforts are being made to reduce bycatches through incorporation of bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) and turtle excluder devices (TEDs) in the fishing gears and selective fishing gears. With the production from capture fisheries already reaching maximum sustainable levels, it is time to look forward for enhancing the biomass through alternative approaches such as Open sea cage farming, use of fish aggregating devices (FADs), artificial reefs, etc. Candidate species such as seabass, shrimps, oysters, crabs, lobsters, sea cucumbers and seaweeds are important in this context. Productivity enhancement has been successfully demonstrated by installation of FADs in many places along the east coast and sea cage farming is being adopted the traditional fishers in the recent times.
Illegal, Unreported and Unrecorded (IUU) fishing is an issue as in several other countries, as the system of reporting catches by fishermen does not exist, except for deep sea foreign vessels that are licensed to operate with Indian flag within the Indian EEZ. There are large industrial vessels of foreign origin licensed to fish (especially tunas) within Indian for EEZ, permitted for mid-sea transshipment of catches and land catches in foreign ports. Indian Coast Guard monitors their movement within Indian EEZ, but there is a possibility of IUU fishing by these vessels seeking to minimize costs and maximize returns. An effective monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) mechanism is needed to curb IUU fishing by the LoP vessels (with Letter of Permit) and also poaching by foreign vessels other than the LoP vessels. Further, fishing in the EEZ of neighbouring countries within the region is often reported. This type of IUU fishing is indulged by fishermen operating medium-size vessels.
Actions that have been taken to curb IUU fishing include: Control of fishing capacity and fishing effort up to sustainable levels; Enforcement of the Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels) Act, 1981; proposal for installation of Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) in fishing boats; MCS to disallow destructive gears; proper monitoring of legal instruments under state level Marine Fishing Regulation Acts; and a proposed Central legislation for regulation of fishing by Indian vessels in the EEZ area under finalization. Regional cooperation is critical for the long-term sustainable protection of fish resources and the marine environment. While India is a signatory to several international conventions such as the United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) and Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), a regular dialogue between countries bordering specific waters such as Indian ocean is imperative for ensuring proper management and equity of fisheries in the region.
Climate change has been found to have a significant impact on all spheres of our life including agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry and the general health of the people. Stock assessments and management strategies may have to undergo rapid and major revisions, the extent of which is not known for the present. Located in tropical belt with innate high temperatures and in the path of annual cyclones and storm surges, climate change is one of the major concerns for sustaining Indian fisheries. A related aspect is the disaster management strategies, that call for intense regional cooperation.
There are now proposals to certify fish stocks in different regions, as being proposed by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and this could become a norm across the countries in the coming years. Product certification is a welcome step for sustaining the resources. However, considering the multispecies nature of resources and harvest by a number of craft and gear combinations overlapping several species, product certification either for species or habitat is however difficult for tropical fisheries.
Our projections for annual fish production by the year 2012 is of the order of 10 million tonnes. The production from aquaculture in the country has been showing an impressive annual growth rate of over 6% and a cumulative growth of 800%, i.e. from 0.37 million tonnes in 1980 to 3.37 million tonnes in 2008. The segments of freshwater aquaculture, coastal aquaculture and mariculture, apart from a portion coldwater fisheries are expected to contribute in significant measures to the fish basket of the country in the coming years. The issues that are being addressed in this area include water management, leasing policy of waters, species diversification, quality seed, provision of adequate feeds, health management, post-harvest processing and transport, quality assurance and certification for both exports and domestic product. Biodiversity management and possible pollution from aquaculture practices are being duly addressed, with registration of shrimp farms, for example, in the country.
I am happy to state that India has one of the robust and innovative institutional mechanism in different aspects of fisheries with regard to research, development, promotion, financing and regulation. The policy framework in the federal structure of administration is continuously revisited and upgraded in tune with the changing requirements, both national and international. The goal is to achieve the prosperity of the fisher, with sustainable fish production with due attention to the health of the environment.
At this Conference, I look forward to getting a glimpse of different approaches to these aspects from all over the world, for achieving sustained growth of the fisheries sector. I am happy to be amidst my colleagues from different countries and take this opportunity to state that India proposes to host the next International Conference of Fisheries Ministers and invite the Hon’ble Ministers to India for the next Conference.
Thank you.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me immense pleasure to be here with all of you for the International Conference of State Fisheries Ministers. I eagerly look forward to discussing the possible strategies to realize the vast potential we have to augment fish production, thereby making it a viable and rewarding economic activity.
India has been playing an important role in global fisheries as the third largest producer of fish in the world and the second largest producer from aquaculture. In the last six decades, marine fish production in India has increased from 0.5 million tonnes to 3.2 million tonnes. The rate of growth has slowed in the nineties as compared to 1960-1990. Though marine fish production in India did not show consistent decline over the time scale, there are several sustainability concerns that demand immediate as well as long-term solutions.
Potential yield estimates indicate that the annual harvestable potential yield from the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is 3.9 million tonnes. As the present production is approaching the potential yield, the country has reached a stage in which further increase in production may have to be viewed with caution. The issues in the sector are excess coastal fishing fleet capacity and overexploitation, unregulated open access fisheries, discards at capture and indiscriminate capture of juveniles, biodiversity loss, pollution and underutilisation of deep sea resources. While natural disasters like cyclones have been a common feature, the tsunami of 2004 added a new dimension to the demands of our preparedness.
Marine fisheries along the 8,000 kilometres coastline of the country including two major island ecosystems provides for direct and indirect livelihood of over 10 million fishers and their families. India is a country with a large number of small scale fishermen harvesting multispecies resources with an array of craft-gear combinations. It is extremely difficult to devise common management strategies that would satisfy the interests of all sections of small scale fishermen as well as sustain fish resources. Fishing closure for 45 to 60 days by mechanized fishing boats is being followed every year all along the coast. In spite of promulgation of Marine Fishing Regulation Act (MFRA) by maritime state governments, licensing of craft, catch declaration, ceiling on number and efficiency of fishing craft, monitoring, control and surveillance of fishing vessels remain as issues. A fisherman in India produces only 3.5 tonnes of fish per year as compared to more than 100 tonnes per year in EU countries. Alternate livelihood in mariculture and sea-related tourism will be able to absorb only a fraction of the fishermen population. Relocating a large number of fishermen with alternate employment is possible only by providing them skills of related kinds, that would be a long-term process.
Conservation and sustainable use of fisheries in the maritime zones of India is being accorded priority. In this direction, apart from emphasising on the implementation of MFRAs, the Marine Fisheries (Regulation and Management) Act, 2009 is being promulgated to regulate fishing activities in the EEZ beyond territorial waters. Several marine species have been listed under endangered species and their fishing prohibited. The programme of diversification and reduction of excess capacity of coastal fishing vessels has been taken up, along with activities of monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) and vessel monitoring system (VMS) in the pipeline. Keeping the open access of the system in view, a comprehensive fishing vessel registration system is being put in place. Sea safety measures are an integral component of these initiatives.
It has been recognized that Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) is a better option compared to single-species management. Designation of over 26 Marine Protected Areas, sanctuaries and marine parks to the extent of about 3% of Indian coastline has served as areas banned from fishing, that is proposed to be further enhanced. In a country with about 3,200 marine fishing villages, which are littered at a distance of every two kilometers along the coastline, implementing EBFM is a challenge. Hence, programmes for creation of awareness and sensitisation of fishers all along the coastline have been undertaken. Further, in line with the international instruments, the guidelines for deep sea fishing have been reviewed last year to enhance the efforts in this segment.
Intense efforts are being made to reduce bycatches through incorporation of bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) and turtle excluder devices (TEDs) in the fishing gears and selective fishing gears. With the production from capture fisheries already reaching maximum sustainable levels, it is time to look forward for enhancing the biomass through alternative approaches such as Open sea cage farming, use of fish aggregating devices (FADs), artificial reefs, etc. Candidate species such as seabass, shrimps, oysters, crabs, lobsters, sea cucumbers and seaweeds are important in this context. Productivity enhancement has been successfully demonstrated by installation of FADs in many places along the east coast and sea cage farming is being adopted the traditional fishers in the recent times.
Illegal, Unreported and Unrecorded (IUU) fishing is an issue as in several other countries, as the system of reporting catches by fishermen does not exist, except for deep sea foreign vessels that are licensed to operate with Indian flag within the Indian EEZ. There are large industrial vessels of foreign origin licensed to fish (especially tunas) within Indian for EEZ, permitted for mid-sea transshipment of catches and land catches in foreign ports. Indian Coast Guard monitors their movement within Indian EEZ, but there is a possibility of IUU fishing by these vessels seeking to minimize costs and maximize returns. An effective monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) mechanism is needed to curb IUU fishing by the LoP vessels (with Letter of Permit) and also poaching by foreign vessels other than the LoP vessels. Further, fishing in the EEZ of neighbouring countries within the region is often reported. This type of IUU fishing is indulged by fishermen operating medium-size vessels.
Actions that have been taken to curb IUU fishing include: Control of fishing capacity and fishing effort up to sustainable levels; Enforcement of the Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels) Act, 1981; proposal for installation of Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) in fishing boats; MCS to disallow destructive gears; proper monitoring of legal instruments under state level Marine Fishing Regulation Acts; and a proposed Central legislation for regulation of fishing by Indian vessels in the EEZ area under finalization. Regional cooperation is critical for the long-term sustainable protection of fish resources and the marine environment. While India is a signatory to several international conventions such as the United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) and Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), a regular dialogue between countries bordering specific waters such as Indian ocean is imperative for ensuring proper management and equity of fisheries in the region.
Climate change has been found to have a significant impact on all spheres of our life including agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry and the general health of the people. Stock assessments and management strategies may have to undergo rapid and major revisions, the extent of which is not known for the present. Located in tropical belt with innate high temperatures and in the path of annual cyclones and storm surges, climate change is one of the major concerns for sustaining Indian fisheries. A related aspect is the disaster management strategies, that call for intense regional cooperation.
There are now proposals to certify fish stocks in different regions, as being proposed by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and this could become a norm across the countries in the coming years. Product certification is a welcome step for sustaining the resources. However, considering the multispecies nature of resources and harvest by a number of craft and gear combinations overlapping several species, product certification either for species or habitat is however difficult for tropical fisheries.
Our projections for annual fish production by the year 2012 is of the order of 10 million tonnes. The production from aquaculture in the country has been showing an impressive annual growth rate of over 6% and a cumulative growth of 800%, i.e. from 0.37 million tonnes in 1980 to 3.37 million tonnes in 2008. The segments of freshwater aquaculture, coastal aquaculture and mariculture, apart from a portion coldwater fisheries are expected to contribute in significant measures to the fish basket of the country in the coming years. The issues that are being addressed in this area include water management, leasing policy of waters, species diversification, quality seed, provision of adequate feeds, health management, post-harvest processing and transport, quality assurance and certification for both exports and domestic product. Biodiversity management and possible pollution from aquaculture practices are being duly addressed, with registration of shrimp farms, for example, in the country.
I am happy to state that India has one of the robust and innovative institutional mechanism in different aspects of fisheries with regard to research, development, promotion, financing and regulation. The policy framework in the federal structure of administration is continuously revisited and upgraded in tune with the changing requirements, both national and international. The goal is to achieve the prosperity of the fisher, with sustainable fish production with due attention to the health of the environment.
At this Conference, I look forward to getting a glimpse of different approaches to these aspects from all over the world, for achieving sustained growth of the fisheries sector. I am happy to be amidst my colleagues from different countries and take this opportunity to state that India proposes to host the next International Conference of Fisheries Ministers and invite the Hon’ble Ministers to India for the next Conference.
Thank you.
Friday, September 11, 2009
2nd Agriculture Leadership Summit 2009
Prof K V Thomas Addressing the 2nd Agriculture Leadership Summit 2009 on monsoon behaviour on our food security system and on implimentation of the proposed Food Security Act,in New Delhi on September 04,2009.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
MOS Prof K V Thomas at a Function organized by ASSOCHAM on FOOD AND AGRI EXPORTERS CONCLAVE in Delhi on 9th September,2009
Dear Friends,
May I thank you for inviting me to speak to you today.We are meeting amidst the anxiety expressed by some quarters over the current round of trade negotiations. We are hoping that the trade in agricultural products become fairer after the negotiations and benefit the farmers, boost our food security and result in increased exports to our agricultural produce. We must not be alarmed, we have a record of tiding through even the difficult times of global recession. India remains one of the lesser affected countries in the current crises. Our fundamentals remain strong and set back to growth very manageable.
Today’s conclave gains special importance in the wake of economic slowdown and global recession, which has greatly influenced major economics of the world. Trade relating to agriculture and allied sector products assumes greater significance for a country like India which has a substantial share in the world market because of its largely agriculture based economy.
In value terms, both agricultural exports and imports have registered consistent growth over the past 15 years. The growth rates are, however, widely divergent. While, agricultural exports grew at an annual growth rate of 8.3 per cent, the imports grew at 14.8 per cent per annum. The ratio of agricultural exports to agricultural import has decreased from 6.2 to 3.0. However, value of exports continues to exceed the value of imports by a large margin. This trend clearly shows that the trade policy reforms initiated by the government have greatly accelerated globalization of agricultural sector of India.
The composition of agricultural trade has significantly changed between 1992 and 2007. The share of fruits and vegetables, flowers, cotton, sugar and molasses and livestock products has considerably increased in the agricultural export basket of India. However, the share of traditionally exportable items like tea, coffee and cashew nuts has declined. Foodgrains share in the agricultural exports by and large remained constant, through export of non-basmati rice has witnessed annual growth rate of more than 10 per cent.The global market for agricultural products is also a good indicator for the export potential.
It we see the growth of global market for agricultural products between 2000-2007, it has shown a significant upswing from US$553 billion to US$ 1127 billion registering a compound annual growth rate of about 10 per cent. India’s export share in the global market was only 1.4 per cent during 2007 with an export performance of US$16 billion. The share of agricultural exports to national exports was over 10 per cent during 2008-09, which clearly indicates that we have been able to meet domestic food requirement and also could export a whole host of agricultural products and processed food.Export cess, in force from 1940 has been repealed in 2006. The Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojna has targeted export worthy products and given technical and capacity building support. Duty free imports of export enabling capital goods are possible in the EPCG scheme. Agri-export zones have been developed. Assistance to states for developing export zones is in operation. Capacity building to create competitiveness has been the mantra in the sector. Focus on the demand of organic products abroad has also been tapped.One crucial barrier to further enhancing our trade with the OECD countries is the high level of domestic protection they are offering their farmers. This is clearly distorting the potential to export. There are studies which show that corrections in OECD domestic support will benefit crops like Sugar and Cotton in India because of the comparative advantage while the corrections may be indifferent as far as rice and wheat farmers are concerned. This happens since the production of crops decline once domestic support are withdrawn in OECD and thus the cheaper Indian crops become dearer there. Overall Indian farmers stand to gain, as per our studies to 15-19% increased prices. This, friends, leaves two fronts for us to focus in trade development :1) Intensive competiveness based development in crops and products of identified potential.
2) Continued efforts to make global trade terms favourable for our exporters and farmers.Our efforts will be in this direction amidst the adverse drought we have this year. I have pleasure in affirming that the Union government will take all efforts to make Indian agricultural trade more earning and taking steps to drought proof the production in the coming session. I wish the function all success and will be pleased to hear more of your deliberations here today.Thank you very much.
Jai Hind.
Mercy Revi Anusmaranam by DMA on 8th September,2009
Prof K V Thomas at Mersy Revi Anusmaranam organised by DMA at Delhi on 8th September 2009.
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