The Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, has expressed fear that the growth achieved so far in the farm sector will soon go away if the Indian Council of Agricultural Research does not stand up to provide solutions to the farming community.

“While we have been fortunate that out production levels have risen over the last few years, I fear that this growth story will peter away unless the ICAR system stands up to count among the solution providers for the farming community,” Mr Pawar said here today at the annual conference of Agri-universities Vice Chancellors and ICAR Directors.

He said that India has been upgrading its agri-research resources to meet the challenges of food concerns and rising prices, but “how successful we have been in overcoming them is still a moot point.”

“... I am constrained to say that but for the successful roll-out of the Green Revolution in the 1960s I am yet to see technological breakthroughs which have broken the productivity barrier faced by most of our crops. With such illustrious minds at work and despite huge financial outlays, the answers still elude the nation,” he pointed out.

ICAR is the apex body for coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the country. It has 97 institutes and 47 agricultural universities.

Pressing the need to develop synergies between researchers and the end-user, the Minister suggested that vice-chancellors must promote demand-driven research among students.

He said that the ICAR institutes and state agri-universities must reinforce interface mechanisms to improve synergy to minimise duplication efforts and lead to judicious use of the resources.

The Minister further stressed on consolidation of research programmes, redeployment of human resources and development of long-term human resources development plan and public private partnership to ascertain inclusive growth in agriculture.

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