The Hindu Business Line : Farm Ministry favours FDI in post-harvest management

THE Union Government proposes to spend Rs 15,000 crore in the perishable sector as well as on the backward and forward linkages in horticulture, the Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Ms Radha Singh, said at the ongoing India Economic Summit 2005.

She said the Government was playing the role of a facilitator for private investment by plugging into the gaps in critical infrastructure, as a partner and investor. "It is engaged in the task of improving the environment for investment," she added.

While addressing the forum, she said the country poised to become the leading food nation of the world. "We have gone beyond the level of surviving and as the nation is blessed with diverse agro climatic zones, there is a tremendous potential on both demand as well as the supply side of the market."

However, the advantages of a large research manpower pool and the abundance of raw material were clouded by disadvantages such as low levels of productivity, infrastructure and investment, she said.

Furthermore, she felt that the weak linkages between research and application, low levels of seed replacements and imbalanced use of fertilisers would inhibit productivity.

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