Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has blamed the growing gap between the demand and supply of agriculture produce for the rising prices in the country. ?The supply has failed to keep pace with the growing demand, leading to shortage of certain items and rise in their prices,? he said on Monday.
Pawar, who was here to inaugurate the Centre of Excellence for vegetables under an Indo-Israel project, said the price rise was temporary. ?We are making all efforts to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of foodgrain and vegetables through imports and by adopting modern farming technology to improve production. We are also taking help of the World Bank in this regard,? he said while talking to the media.
Washing his hands of the present onion and tomato crises, the minister said the focus of the agriculture department was on making improvements in wheat, rice, sugar, pulses and oil production. ?Vegetables and fruits are the Central government’s separate project that we don’t deal with,? he said.
Blaming the inclement weather for the rise in onion prices, Pawar said 70% of the crop in the Nashik belt had been damaged due to unseasonal rain, due to which the produce rotted in the fields.
Earlier, inaugurating the Centre of Excellence for vegetables, the minister said it was the first such centre to be inaugurated in the country with Israeli collaboration. ?Most vegetables in India are grown by marginal farmers, using conventional methods. Time has come for us to bring about a complete change in the labour intensive, low productive style of vegetable production, by introducing modern agriculture techniques such as those adopted by Israel. It will be possible to raise production by using less water, less pesticides and less area of cultivation,? said Pawar.