107 million hectare farm land degraded: Pawar

NEW DELHI, May 12 (Agencies): Painting a worrying picture of farm sector, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said millions of hectares of land have been degraded over the years and there was an urgent need for policies to raise productivity.

"There has been decline in the growth of productivity of some crops which does not augur well for food security, exports, growth and poverty alleviation.

Therefore, there is an urgent need for policies and programmes that can invigorate productivity," Pawar said.

The minister, while inaugurating the 78th AGM of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, said about 107 million hectare of land have been degraded due to soil erosion, waterlogging, salinity, alkalinity and acidity.

Pointing out that the country had to import not only wheat, but pulses also, Pawar said: "We have to take corrective action, we have to see how we improve productivity, how we increase the coverage and how we are going to address the problem of food security".

Pawar noted that there was a mismatch between demand and production due to rise in population.

"Intensification of agriculture is imperative through technological interventions followed up with appropriate extension services to increase productivity and maintain production in line with the population growth rate," he said.

There was also an urgent need to move away from mono-cropping and wheat paddy rotation to horticulture and other high value crops to maintain soil health and prevent declining groundwater levels, Pawar added.