India needs second Green Revolution to raise farm output: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday called for extensive use of technology to bring about the second Green Revolution and raise the annual farm sector growth to four per cent in the next five years.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday called for extensive use of technology to bring about the second Green Revolution and raise the annual farm sector growth to four per cent in the next five years.

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Spelling out the priorities of his government on the 63rd Independence Day, Singh said, "Our goal is 4 per cent annual growth in agriculture and I am confident that we will be able to achieve in the next 5 years."

Having recorded a growth rate of 4.9 per cent in 2007-08, the agriculture sector output decelerated to 1.6 per cent in the last fiscal and may tumble further this year owing to a poor monsoon and drought in major parts of the country.

Singh said the country "needs another Green Revolution and we will try our best to make it possible." More attention would have to be paid to the needs of those farmers who do not have the means for irrigation.

He asked the scientist community to develop new techniques to increase farm productivity, especially of small and marginal farmers. "We will have to adopt modern means to be successful in agriculture".

The 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12) aims at raising the annual farm sector growth rate to 4 per cent, but the target is unlikely to be achieved due to a likely drop in foodgrains production this year.