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Agri production short of targets: Minister
THE FOUR-DAY international conference on Post Harvest Technology and Value Addition in cereals pulses and oil seeds (ICPHT-2006), organised at Chandra Shekhar Azad Agriculture University, concluded here on Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, chief guest of the programme and State Agriculture Minister Ashok Bajpai said the amount of agricultural production in our country was less than pre-decided standards. It did not match the amount of grain produced in other developing countries of the world, he added.
THE FOUR-DAY international conference on Post Harvest Technology and Value Addition in cereals pulses and oil seeds (ICPHT-2006), organised at Chandra Shekhar Azad Agriculture University, concluded here on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion, chief guest of the programme and State Agriculture Minister Ashok Bajpai said the amount of agricultural production in our country was less than pre-decided standards. It did not match the amount of grain produced in other developing countries of the world, he added.
Bajpai said that there were people who consumed only rice or wheat that resulted in malnutrition; to overcome the same, crops with some kind of value addition of important vitamins should be produced so people could consume a fully nutritious diet.
He said that with limited production of pulses, people were not able to get required protein intake. So, they should go in for other substitutes to overcome the deficiency.
Bajpai said that soil fertility was deteriorating day by day due to use of inorganic fertilisers and various other pesticides and insecticides. The farmers should use organic manures, eco-friendly products and try to increase value addition to check this problem.
Addressing the conference, vice chancellor of Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, professor SL Mehta said that every year harvest amounting to Rs 50,000 crore was spoilt due to lack of post-harvest facilities. He said that the problem should be dealt with to check wastage.
Alka Srivastava and professor Malik too addressed the conference and said that organising such conferences helped in better interaction.
Dr PS Kandurkar, organising secretary of ICPHT-2006, presented the four-day report of the conference and said that the results were still to be evaluated.
Dr GP Srivastava, general secretary of the Indian Society of Agricultural Biochemists, announced the names of the winners of the poster competition.
Vice chancellor of CSA, professor Dr VK Suri proposed the vote of thanks.
