Eminent agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan on Wednesday asked the government to formulate a well- devised monsoon management strategy to achieve a high growth rate of at least five per cent in the farm sector.
"If we have a strategy for maximising the benefits of a good monsoon, we can hope to achieve at least a 5 per cent growth rate during 2010-11 in agriculture and allied sectors," Swaminathan said at a seminar on agro-diversity management.
The monsoon management strategy should focus on improving soil health, maximising the benefits of available water sources, spreading the best available technologies, ensuring credit and economic viability of farming, he said.
"The South-West monsoon is just beginning... Unless the government of India and the state governments take immediate action in organising the monsoon management teams in each of the 128 agro-climatic zones, the Finance Minister will have serious problems in linking outlay with outcome when he presents the Budget next year," Swaminathan said.
"There is no time to relax and every day lost will be a blow to the food security of our country, which is already suffering from extensive malnutrition," he added.
The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted a 'normal' monsoon for the current year, with rainfall being 98 per cent of the normal long-term average, which is around 873 mm, raising hopes for better farm output.
The growth in agriculture and allied sectors was estimated at minus 0.2 per cent last year as a result of the worst-ever drought faced by the country in 37 years. The deficiency of rainfall during the South-West monsoon of 2009 was 23 per cent.
"Had we had a scientific monsoon management strategy, we could have minimised the loss last year," Swaminathan said.
