PM calls for revolutions in farm, allied sectors

Patna

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that India cannot wait for the second Green Revolution, which must come from eastern states and also called for similar revolutions in energy, milk and fisheries to make the country self-sufficient.

Thanking farmers for taking his advice seriously, Modi said sowing of pulses and oilseeds has touched a record this Kharif (summer) season.

Addressing the 87th foundation day of premium agri- research body ICAR here, Modi asked agri-scientists and progressive farmers to ensure the country does not need to import any farm commodities in the future.

He emphasised on increasing crop yields per hectare and expressed concern over agri-wastage, while pitching for food processing and value-addition to boost farmers income.

“We have benefited from the first Green Revolution. But the country cannot wait for the second Green Revolution. We are already late. We need to prepare plans to achieve second green revolution,” he said.

“I can see clearly that the second Green Revolution will take place from eastern states like Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, and eastern Uttar Pradesh,” he added.

Emphasising on taking research from lab to land, Modi exhorted agricultural scientists to give a report to him in six months identifying priorities needed to be given for fast pacing the farm growth.

“As agricultural land is shrinking, there is a need to increase crop yields per hectare through newer research in the field of agriculture,” Modi said and urged the agri scientists of the country to help this happen.

Modi praised Indian scientists for their work despite budgetary constraints, and emphasised the need for scientific innovations in the agriculture sector to move from “lab to land,” so that farmers can benefit from them.

He said that his government’s priority was to usher in four-prong revolutions in tune with the four colours — saffron, green, white and blue in the national flag.

“We have tricolour flag. There is blue chakra. I believe that there is a need for ‘Chatur Kranti’ (fourth revolution) in the country,” Modi said while naming these four revolutions as — green, saffron, white and blue. .

On saffron revolution, Modi, however said people might derive different meaning from saffron revolution (colour of BJP flag), but it meant revolution in the field of energy.

The energy revolution is very much required. Electricity is necessary to manufacturing value-added food products.

“First, we need electricity, then only scientific technology will be of help,” he said.

India is deficit in both electricity and oil and gas, crucial inputs for industrial growth.

Modi rued that Bihar being such a big state produces only 250-300 MW of power. “When I went to Bhutan, I started hydro-electricity power project and the maximum electricity from this project will come to Bihar,” he added.

On white revolution, Modi said there is a need to modernise dairy farmers to boost milk production.

“We know that the quantity of milk produced is lower as compared to the number of animals. How do we increase milk production? There is no point in increasing number of animals but how to increase milk productivity. …We need to modernise our dairy farming,” he said.

Emphasising on increasing fish production to achieve blue revolution, the Prime Minister said, “There is lot of water in Bihar but the state buys Rs 400 crore worth of fish from Andhra Pradesh. There is big global market for ornamental fishes. If we focus on blue revolution, this will benefit poor farmers in villages.”

On sharp increase in sowing area of pulses and oilseeds in the ongoing kharif season, Modi said, “In Mann Ki Baat, I had told farmers about requirement of pulses and oilseeds. I appreciate them for taking my words seriously. I got to know that our farmers have done a record sowing of pulses and oilseeds. They took up sowing in a big way this time.”

Going forward, he suggested agri-scientists and progressive farmers should make efforts to reduce India’s import dependence on pulses and other agriculture commodities.

“Agri-scientists and progressive farmers should make a list on imported agriculture items and decide to become self sufficient in production of such products in the coming years to ensure the country does not import any farm commodities.”

Expressing concern over agri-wastage affecting farmers income, Modi said, “Wastage is a big concern. We have to go for value-addition.”

Huge wastage at farm fields is a big loss to farmers, he said urging scientists to come out with new research work to address this issue and submit a report in six months.

The Prime Minister gave some examples of how productivity could be increased by applying science in the farm sector and also by identifying areas in which farmers’ income could be increased by adopting scientific innovations.

He said there was tremendous scope of increasing farmers’ income via honeybee production that has a huge global market.

Modi rewarded agricultural scientists and media persons for remarkable work in the field of farm sector.

Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh were present on the occasion. Agricultural scientists from across the country were present at the function.

PTI