17 February 2012
No. 1506
(L to R) Dr US Awasthi, CEO, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO); Dr WD Dar, ICRISAT DG; and Dr Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister, Meghalaya at the President of India’s workshop on rainfed agricultural development.
At the President of India’s agriculture committee workshop
ICRISAT shares strategy for a farmercentered, science-based rainfed agricultural development Rainfed agriculture is pivotal to India’s economy and food security. About 60% of the country’s total cultivated area is rainfed, feeding 40% of its 1.2 billion people. Ranking first among countries that practice rainfed agriculture in terms of extent and value of production, about half of India’s 142 million hectares of cultivated area will most likely remain dependent on rainfall for food production, even if full irrigation potential is achieved.
U
nderlining the crucial role of rainfed agriculture in attaining India’s food security, President Pratibha Patil organized a one-day workshop to deliberate on the recommendations of the Committee of Governors on Agriculture on measures to enhance the productivity, profitability, sustainability and competitiveness of rainfed agriculture in the country. The workshop, held on 15 February at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, was attended by senior
policymakers, researchers, national and international organizations, government departments, nongovernment organizations, farmers’ organizations, and private industries. The inaugural session was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; Union Minister of Finance Pranab Mukherjee; Union Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Sharad Pawar; and Governor of Punjab and Rajasthan and Chairman of the Committee of Governors Shivraj Patil. Director General William to page 2 ...4