OneWorld.net (U.S.)

Dr. Mangala Rai, Secretary, DARE and DG, ICAR has called for closer ties between SAARC member countries in the field of agriculture and rural development so that it could benefit the poor people of the region. While inaugurating the second meeting of SAARC Technical Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (TCARD) here today morning, Dr. Rai emphasized the need to chalk out Perspective Plan for the region as a whole keeping in view the emerging situations. Smt. Shashi Misra, Additonal Secretary, DARE and Secretary, ICAR, Dr. G. Kalloo, DDG (Crop Sciences), ICAR and Chairman of the TCARD and Mr. Sufiur Rehman, Director, SAARC Secretariat were present at the function along with representatives from all member countries.

In his address, Dr. Rai flagged off issues of job-led agricultural growth, processed agri-produce, factor productivity in agriculture in the SAARC region and said that intensification of agriculture needs to be essentially looked into. He stressed the fact that agriculture would continue to remain backbone of the region for at least 4-5 decades and job-led agricultural growth model needs to be put in place to help the people of the region. Dr. Rai drew the attention of the members of the committee towards the fact that a little over 1% of agricultural produce is processed and not more than 5% is value added in the region. He pointed out the decline in total factor productivity in agriculture and emphasized that exchange of ideas and information amongst member countries would produce more tangible results than any big investment in these areas.

Referring to rich source of biodiversity the region is having, Dr. Rai talked of adopting a long-term strategy among SAARC nations under the Convention of Biological Diversity to preserve it. Regarding spread of animal diseases across the region, Dr. Rai called for having joint strategy to tackle them. He said, “Such diseases do not know political boundaries and they travel without passports. Thus, exchange of information and sharing of ideas could be the only way to tackle them effectively”. He cited the Rice-Wheat Consortium as a fine example of collaborative effort in SAARC where everybody turned out to be a gainer and urged the members to capitalize on complementarities that exist between SAARC nations to benefit common people of the region.

In her address, Smt. Misra outlined the agenda of the two-day meeting and informed that India is hosting the meeting second time in two years. She said that synergy and cooperation was the reality of the day and in tune with it a decision was taken to merge agriculture and rural development into one committee in recognition of the symbiosis between these two subjects. Mr. Rehman said that agriculture remains the mainstay of the poor people in South Asia. He termed policy removal as a challenge for policy planners and added that development efforts must continue to make sustained progress so that the issue could be tackled effectively. He mentioned the proposal of Regional Food Bank as one concrete effort in this direction.

The two-day meeting is deliberating on various issues like ‘water for agriculture in SAARC countries’, ‘establishing SAARC quadrangle milk grid’ and discussion on ‘exchange of rural development volunteers in the SAARC countries’. It will also discuss the modalities for establishment of regional food bank on the basis of paper prepared by India. The role of SAARC Agricultural Information Centre (SAIC) will also figure in the meeting.

India had hosted the first meeting of the technical committee on agriculture and rural development in New Delhi in July last year.

Source: Indian Council of Agricultural Research