President of India inaugurates country's biggest-ever agriculture fair 'Krishi Vasant'

Industry, agriculture must join hands: President

* President of India Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates the country’s biggest-ever agriculture fair-cum-exposition ‘Krishi Vasant’
* The five-day exposition will continue till February 13

By Kartik Lokhande
NAGPUR, Feb 9:
President of India Pranab Mukherjee, on Sunday, called for industry and agriculture working hand-in-hand to achieve the desired growth rate of economy. He also advocated investment in research, food processing, and other sectors related to agriculture to provide a boost to economy.
Mukherjee was addressing a gathering of farmers from various parts of the country, after inaugurating ‘Krishi Vasant’ agriculture fair-cum-exhibition at CICR campus here on Sunday. Union Ministry of Agriculture and Government of Maharashtra have organised the five-day exposition, in strategic partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Referring to Food Security Act, Mukherjee said that sceptics were questioning how was it possible to take legal responsibility of feeding vast population. “But, they must realise that the situation has changed. From begging for agricultural produce imports, Indian economy has grown substantially in the last 10 years,” he said. Admitting that there were ‘slips’ in growth rate in a span of 2-3 years, he added that it did not matter considering overall scenario. “Never before in the history has the country grown this much in a block of 10 years,” he emphasised.
Governor of Maharashtra K Sankaranarayanan, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Union Minister of Heavy Industries Praful Patel, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil were the guests on this occasion. Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anil Deshmukh, Guardian Minister of Nagpur district Shivajirao Moghe, Maharashtra Chief Secretary J S Saharia, Union Secretary (Agriculture and Co-operation) Ashish Bahuguna, CII President S Gopalakrishnan, and Director General of ICAR Dr S Ayyappan also shared the dais.

Published in The Hitavada (all editions) on February 10, 2014

President of India was all praise for ‘dynamic’ Sharad Pawar. “India has seen tremendous growth and development in agriculture sector under him. The sector has got a new dimension and direction,” he said. Mukherjee, who had handled many a portfolios as Union Minister including that of Finance, said that India was importer of food, fertiliser, and fuel. This used to worry every Finance Minister. However, at least in case of food, situation had changed and the country was not an exporter of foodgrains. Apart from producing foodgrains enough for her own population, India was now exporting rice and wheat. ‘Perennially deficient’ in pulses and oilseeds, the country was witnessing positive results with the Government initiatives like ‘Pulse Village’, credit supply, curtailment in rate of interest for loan etc.
Mukherjee stressed on improving the access of farmers to markets to reduce farm wastages, control inflation, and increase incomes. In this regard, he attracted the attention of the gathering towards Union Ministry of Agriculture declaring 2014 as the ‘Year of the Farmer Producer Organisation’, to enable the farmer to achieve economies of scale. He also mentioned that Public Private Partnerships (PPP) could bridge infrastructure gap in post-harvest food domain. “There is a need to encourage greater investment by organised logistics players, processors, and retailers for developing markets under PPP mode. This will ensure better returns for the farmer as well as industry,” he added. He also called for identifying ‘loopholes’ to streamline supply chains and bridge gap between wholesale and retail markets, to overcome food inflation.
President of India remembered late Vasantrao Naik as ‘harbinger of agricultural development’. The exposition has been organised to mark birth centenary celebrations of Naik. Mukherjee said that ‘Krishi Vasant’ would set future objectives for agriculture sector in the country.
Earlier, Pawar felicitated Mukherjee with shawl and a memento. Prithviraj Chavan felicitated K Sankaranarayanan. At the outset, Ashish Bahuguna made introductory remarks. Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and S Gopalakrishnan also spoke on this occasion. Dr S Ayyappan proposed a vote of thanks.
After inauguration, President of India and other dignitaries visited the Theme Pavilion on the exposition.
Jharkhand’s Agriculture Minister Yogendra Sav and Madhya Pradesh’s Agriculture Development Minister Gourishankar Bisen made it a point to attend the inaugural session of the exposition. A host of dignitaries from Maharashtra including Co-operation Minister Harshwardhan Patil, EGS Minister Dr Nitin Raut, FDA Minister Manohar Naik, MPCC chief Manikrao Thakre, MP Vilas Muttemwar, former minister Satish Chaturvedi, former MPCC chief Ranjit Deshmukh, and others also attended the programme. 

President of India Pranab Mukherjee (centre) with Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Union Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel and others at inaugural of 'Krishi Vasant' expo at CICR campus in Nagpur.

President of India Pranab Mukherjee inaugurating 'Krishi Vasant' expo as Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil. (Photo courtesy: Satish Raut)