Expressing grave concern over steady decline in the production of food grains, agriculture scientists on Friday stressed on the need to bring in more innovations in the farm sector.
According to a research report filed by National Institute of Advanced Sciences (NIAS), India is currently witnessing a steady annual population growth rate of 1.7 per cent and the annual growth of food grain production is 1.3 per cent. During the event, Dr P K Shetty, former dean of NIAS said, the growth rate in paddy production has drastically declined from 1990 to 2010, as compared to green revolution period 1968-1980. “The overall production of paddy and wheat grew at 28 per cent and 23.6 per cent respectively during the green revolution.
Whereas, during 1990-2010 the average growth rate of food grains production went down to 1.6 per cent,” he said.
Dr S A Patil, chairman of Karnataka Krishi Mission, and Dr K Narayana Gowda, vice-chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences, also agreed that India needs to bring in innovations in rice production with initiatives such as direct-seeded rice, improved rice-based rain fed agricultural systems, precision agriculture and site-specific nutrient management.
This year, many parts of the country is facing severe drought. “Agriculture activities have come to standstill because of drought. By 2020, to meet the demand of 1.3 billion population, India needs to produce about 281 MT of food grain with an annual growth target of 2 per cent,” Shetty added.
Dr B C Virakamath, director of Directorate of Rice Research (DRR), demanded that DRR should be given more powers and funds to do more research on hybrid paddy varieties so that they can develop a long-term strategy to help farmers in the rain-fed areas.
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