By IANS,
New Delhi : President Pratibha Patil Sunday called for greater use of technology in the agriculture sector to ensure better productivity and increased focus on issues like labour shortage.
“There should be greater use of technology in the agricultural sector to enhance productivity. Also, issues and problems relating to dry land farming, including labour shortage, require to be addressed in a focused manner,” the president said, addressing the nation on the eve of the its 65th Independence Day.
The president also said that the government may need to examine whether existing rural employment programmes can be utilised for agricultural land of farmers, whether small holders or otherwise, in rainfed areas.
She stressed upon augmentation of warehousing and cold storage facilities for agricultural produce in the country. “Warehousing will make food distribution not only easier and quicker, but it would be a low cost option that also cuts on wastage during transportation,” she said.
Patil called on the corporate sector as well as small and medium enterprises to seriously engage with agriculturists and farmers, particularly in rainfed areas, to avail of the many opportunities of working together for mutual benefit.
“Let the public sector entities take the lead in this regard. The integration of agriculture with the other sectors of the economy would not only be useful for agriculture, but would generate positive impulses in other sectors as well,” the president added.