NEW DELHI, India (NNN-Bernama) -- Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday emphasised on the need to shift large
surplus farmers to non-agriculture sector, saying per capita income of farmers
would rise only when fewer people engage in farming.
He also said farmers' income and agri-land
yields need to be enhanced to meet the growing foodgrains demand in the coming
years, building on the success of the 11th Plan, Press Trust of India (PTI)
reported.
Addressing the 57th meeting of the National
Development Council (NDC), Manmohan Singh said: "Paradoxically, we should
not aim at increasing total employment in agriculture. In fact, we need to move
people out of agriculture by giving them gainful employment in the
non-agricultural sector.
"It is only when fewer people depend
upon agriculture that per capita incomes in agriculture will rise significantly
and sufficiently to make farming an attractive proposition."
Although the agriculture share in GDP has
fallen to 15 per cent, about half of the population still relies on farm
activities as its principal income source, he added.
Since large population is engaged in farm
activities, he said, "what happens in agriculture is therefore critical
for the success of inclusiveness."
Better agricultural performance during the
11th Plan is an important reason why poverty declined faster, he added.
Agriculture being a state subject, the Prime
Minister said that most of the policy initiatives needed are in the realm of
state governments.
However, the 12th Plan strategy contains
many elements which will ensure growth is as inclusive as possible, he said.
During the 11th Plan (2007-12), the average
agriculture sector growth reached 3.3 per cent from 2.4 per cent in the
previous Plan period, while farm wages grew annually at 6.8 per cent in the
recent years, compared to only 1.1 per cent in the period before 2004-05, he
added. -- NNN-BERNAMA
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