FM for agri remodelling to sustain high growth

In a bid to boost growth in the farm sector to ensure sustained economic development, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has favoured “rem...

In a bid to boost growth in the farm sector to ensure sustained economic development, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has favoured “remodelling” of the agriculture sector in the next three to six months.

“In three-six months, we must find a way to remodel agriculture,’’ Chidambaram said after presenting the India Business Leader awards on Saturday night.

The need for remodelling agriculture comes in the wake of a lower 2 per cent growth in the farm sector in the first quarter of the current fiscal compared to 3.8 per cent in the year-ago period although industry and service sectors improved their performances enabling the economy to grow by an impressive 8.1 per cent.

Story continues below this ad

Chidambaram cited two extreme cases — one, land reforms through which tillers become the owners, but continue to remain poor, and second, corporatisation of agriculture, which was not feasible in India.

“We have to find the way whether corporates can play an important role in agriculture without disturbing the tillers. Whether Indian agriculture can be raised to world standard,” he said.

The finance ministry will shortly convene a meeting of experts to discuss whether there is a way to add value in agriculture by corporates without disturbing the land ceiling.