E-Paper
Pressure on agri land more in India
DIRECTOR GENERAL of Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), Dr Mangla Rai, said there was need to use natural resources in an effective manner to counter the challenges before the agriculture sector of the country.
DIRECTOR GENERAL of Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), Dr Mangla Rai, said there was need to use natural resources in an effective manner to counter the challenges before the agriculture sector of the country.
He was delivering a lecture on ‘India’s Transformation Through Agricultural Research and Development Efforts’ at KN Udupa Auditorium in Banaras Hindu University here on Wednesday. Institute of Agricultural Sciences at BHU had organised the lecture.
“India has 17 per cent population and 15 livestock of the entire world whereas the land and water resource were merely 2.3 per cent and 4.2 per cent therefore the need of the hour was to use these natural resources in an effective manner so that a sustainable growth could be achieved,” he said.
He said the pressure on agricultural land was more in India than other countries across the world.
Dr Mathura Rai, who is also secretary of Department of Agricultural Research Education (DARE) of Government of India, said that agricultural products account to 21 per cent of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
The investment on agricultural sector was only 7 per cent due to which the research and development and other such activities were being hampered.
He termed the agriculture sector as the biggest private sector of the country and added that this sector was the most unorganised and neglected sector. He said that there was .02 per cent agricultural employment growth in the country in the last 10 years.
He said India’s population is increasing in an unprecedented manner and is estimated to be 1.5 billion by the year 2050, therefore, there was an urgent need to tap other areas of agriculture such as fisheries, poultry, pigeries and processing sectors to keep a balance between the demand and supply in the country.
