President Appoints a Committee of Governors to Study and Recommend Steps for Increasing Agricultural Productivity

The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil has constituted a Committee of Governors under the chairmanship of Shri Shivraj Patil, Governor of Punjab & Rajasthan to study and recommend measures for enhancing productivity, profitability, sustainability and competitiveness of the agriculture sector in India with special reference to rainfed area farming.

The Committee will deliberate on the need for formulating requisite policy initiatives and legislative measures, institutional reforms including restructuring and convergence of schemes at local level so as to integrate with the village economy and avenues and prospects for investment in agriculture and allied sectors. It will also discuss on measures for transfer of innovations and new cutting edge technologies to the farm and allied sectors, steps to meet the emerging scenario of farm labour and farm mechanization and also to recommend the role and participation of agriculture related Public Sector Undertakings, agriculture Universities and Research Institutions both at the Central and State levels in the promotion of sustainable agriculture and knowledge management and a way forward for Farmer-Industry Partnership.

Other members of Committee are Shri K. Sankaranarayanan, Governor of Maharashtra & Goa, Shri N.N. Vohra, Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Shri Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary, Governor of Meghalaya, Shri H.R. Bhardwaj, Governor of Karnataka, Shri Devanand Konwar, Governor of Bihar, Smt. Margaret Alva, Governor of Uttarakhand, Shri Nikhil Kumar, Governor of Nagaland, Shri J.B. Patnaik, Governor of Assam, Shri Shekhar Dutt, Governor of Chhattisgarh, Shri K. Rosaiah, Governor of Tamil Nadu, Shri Vakkom Purushothaman, Governor of Mizoram and Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Bhopinder Singh, Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

This release issued at 1325 hrs.