By IANS,
New Delhi : President Pratibha Patil remembered C. Subramanium and Annasaheb P. Shinde for their key role in the Green Revolution, when she addressed scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) here Wednesday.
“The Foundation Day (of the ICAR) offers an opportunity to introspect and to pay homage to those who contributed to taking Indian agriculture to great heights. The foremost among them were Bharat Ratna late C. Subramaniam, the minister of agriculture, and late Annasaheb P. Shinde, minister of state of agriculture, in the 1960s and 1970s,” she said.
“They were the driving force behind the Green Revolution in the country.”
Praising the premier agriculture research institute, she said: “ICAR has generated agricultural technologies and contributed to the Green Revolution, made agriculture more resilient against natural vagaries and helped to ward off threats of famine.”
She laid down the foundation stone of a 1,200-seat auditorium named after Subramanium and dedicating a symposium hall to Shinde in the sprawling ICAR campus in west delhi.
Touching upon gender concerns in agriculture, Patil said: “Women undertake approximately 65 percent of the farm work from planting to harvesting and post harvesting operations. Policies that favour women and approaches would invariably result in increased production.”
“I would encourage technological options that take into account gender concerns while designing tools and equipments, particularly which are used by women to make their farm work somewhat easier,” she added.
She said she was glad to know that ICAR had established a National Research Centre on Women in Agriculture for enhancing technological empowerment of women in agriculture and allied sectors.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and member of parliament M.S. Swaminathan were present on the occasion.