PM calls for revolutions in farm, power sectors

Patna, July 25

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Aiming to make the country self-sufficient, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for tetrad revolutions of green, saffron, white and blue to boost production in agriculture, power, dairy and fishery sector.

Thanking farmers for taking his advice seriously, Modi said sowing of pulses and oilseeds has touched a record this Kharif season.

Addressing the 87^th foundation day of premium agri-research body ICAR here, Modi asked agri-scientists and progressive farmers to ensure the country does not need to import any farm commodities in the future.

He emphasised on increasing crop yields per hectare and expressed concern over agri-wastage, while pitching for food processing and value-addition to boost farmers’ income.

“We have Tricolour flag. There is blue chakra. I believe that there is a need for ‘Chatur Kranti’ (Fourth Revolution) in the country,” Modi said while naming these four revolutions as green, saffron, white and blue.

“One is saffron revolution. Different people may have different meaning about saffron revolution. The colour of energy is saffron. Energy revolution is very much required,” he said.

“India is deficit in both electricity and oil and gas, crucial inputs for industrial growth.

“Electricity is necessary to manufacturing of value-added food products. “First, we need electricity, then only scientific technology will be of help,” he said.

Modi rued that Bihar being such a big state produces only 250-300 MW of power. “When I went to Bhutan, I started hydro-electricity power project and the maximum electricity from this project will come to Bihar,” he added.

On the Green Revolution, the Prime Minister said, “We have benefited from the first Green Revolution. But the country cannot wait for the second Green Revolution. We are already late. We need to prepare plans to achieve second green revolution.”

Modi said the priority of the second Green Revolution could not be same as the first revolution which focused on reducing India’s import dependence on foodgrains.

“I believe that India’ second Green Revolution will be achieved in north eastern regions like Bihar, Assam and West Bengal. I am able to see this clearly. The Bihar state will bring agriculture revolution in the country. This initiative has been made from here today,” he added.

On White Revolution, Modi said there is a need to modernise dairy farmers to boost milk production.

“We know that the quantity of milk produced is lower as compared to the number of animals. How do we increase milk production? There is no point in increasing number of animals but how to increase milk productivity. ...We need to modernise our dairy farming,” he said.

Emphasising on increasing fish production to achieve Blue Revolution, the Prime Minister said, “There is lot of water in Bihar but the state buys Rs 400 crore worth of fish from Andhra Pradesh. There is big global market for ornamental fishes. If we focus on blue revolution, this will benefit poor farmers in villages.”

On sharp increase in sowing area of pulses and oilseeds in the ongoing kharif season, Modi said, “In Mann Ki Baat, I had told farmers about the requirement of pulses and oilseeds. I appreciate them for taking my words seriously. I got to know that our farmers have done a record sowing of pulses and oilseeds. They took up sowing in a big way this time.”Going forward, he suggested agri-scientists and progressive farmers should make efforts to reduce India’s import dependence on pulses and other agriculture commodities.

“Agri-scientists and progressive farmers should make a list on imported agriculture items and decide to become self sufficient in production of such products in the coming years to ensure the country does not import any farm commodities.”

He also emphasised the need to transfer lab research work to farm fields saying that “farmers have potential to increase production but the need of the hour is scientific knowledge.

“There is a need to link scientifiy knowledge to farmers and we are working in this direction.”

Expressing concern over agri-wastage affecting farmers income, Modi said, “Wastage is a big concern. We have to go for value-addition.”

Huge wastage at farm fields is a big loss to farmers, he said urging scientists to come out with new research work to address this issue and submit a report in six months.

Modi also said as farm lands are shrinking, there is an emphasis on raising farm productivity in the world and India too should focus on this.

“Our agricultural land is shrinking and we too need to raise farm productivity. Unless we do not give importance to raising crop yields per hectare, our farmers will not be happy,” he said. — PTI