Date:15/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/15/stories/2008121553570500.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Experts call for easy credit, tech transfer

Staff Reporter

‘Jala Yagnam will work wonders in next 10 years’

Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

APSCHE Chairman K.C. Reddy receiving a souvenir released by AU Vice-Chancellor B. Satyanarayana at the pre-conference seminar of AP Economic Association on dryland agriculture in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. —

VISAKHAPATNAM: Experts on Sunday regretted lack of focus being attached to dry land agriculture in the State and underlined the need for technology transfer from lab to field, easy institutional credit and other supports to benefit more small and marginal farmers. The experts attended the pre-conference seminar on dry land agriculture organised jointly by the AP Economics Association (APEA) and the Department of Economics, Andhra University here.

AP State Council of Higher Education Chairman K.C. Reddy inaugurated the meeting and AU Board of Studies (economics) Chairman G. Ramachandrudu presided.

The experts called for studies on cropping pattern, weather conditions, problems in extending institutional credit and measures to weed out private money lenders, transfer of low-cost technology to rural areas and taking up of irrigation projects to prevent rainwater going waste.

Low income

In the light of post-globalisation phase, experts felt that agriculture has been ignored to a large extent causing low income to small and marginal farmers and aggravating unemployment problem forcing urban migration.

Experts including G. Paidi Raju, J. Ramu Naidu, N. Koti Reddy, S. Radhakrishna and M. Pushpalata presented papers. A souvenir brought out on the occasion was released. Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University B. Satyanarayana and APEA secretary L.K. Mohan Rao, Head of the Department of Economics R. Sudarsana Rao spoke.

In his address, Prof. Reddy, who is the president of APEA, said the basic problem in AP was that small and marginal farmers were dependent on dry land farming for their livelihood. Equitable distribution of economic progress was not possible due to disparity, he said and called for more focus on water resources.

He said the irregular onset of monsoon had compounded the problems of farmers depending on rain-fed irrigation. He said institutional credit, technology transfer and input availability should form part of any major policy on agriculture and hailed the trend-setting initiative by the Congress Government to ground work on various irrigation projects. Jala Yagnam, under which several major projects had been taken, would work wonders in next 10 years, he noted.

Prof. Reddy cited how the launching of Gundlakamma irrigation project in Prakasam would benefit the small and marginal farmers in getting more yield due to availability of round-the-year irrigation and exuded confidence that the focus on irrigation would lead to grounding of more such projects.