Presidential Address.docVIP

H.E. Shri B.L. Joshi, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Hon’ble Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Shri Harish Rawat, our Past Presidents of the Academy and Guest of Honour Dr. R.S. Paroda and Dr. Mangala Rai, Distinguished Scientists, Outstanding Farmers, Honoured Guests, Ladies Gentlemen. Excellencies, permit me also to welcome you and the galaxy of scientists and guest. Touching the daily life of about 600 million people, over 50 percent of the country’s population, comprising nearly 120 million farming families – the men and women feeding the nation – agriculture continues to be the life thread of the nation. Despite the decreasing share of agricultural GDP in the total national GDP, agriculture-led economic growth is central to inclusive and accelerated growth in the country. Thus, if agriculture fails, everything else will fail. Two thirds of the poor eke out a living from agriculture and they, and the urban poor, critically depend on sustained productivity growth in agriculture for affordable food. For the poorest people, GDP growth originating in agriculture is about four times more effective in raising incomes of extremely poor people than GDP growth originating outside the sector. We are not effectively realizing this potential. Thanks to the Green Revolution – an outcome of congruence of technology, policy, political will, Farmers’ enthusiasm and partnership, which had transformed Indian Agriculture and livelihood security situation in the country. During the Green Revolution era, from mid-1960s to mid 1990s, food and agricultural production and productivity had more than doubled and the intensity of hunger and poverty had halved. The Green Revolution has now, however, waned. Since the mid- and late- 1990s, while the overall GDP growth rate of 7 to 9 percent was recorded, the agricultural growth had hovered around 2.5 to 3.0 percent per annum. This had resulted in the widening of the gap between per worker GDP in agriculture and n