GOLDEN JUBILEE LECTURE

Vote  of  Thanks

 B. K. Saha
Director General
The Fertiliser Association of India, New Delhi

After hearing the lecture by Dr. Swaminathan, and seeing his presentation, I feel that we could not have had a better speaker on this topic and for this occasion.

I would like to share a little personal information with you. I had occasion to work under Dr. Swaminathan, almost 30 years ago, when he was Secretary, Agriculture and Cooperation, and I was Director, in-charge of the Command Area Development Programme in the Ministry. It was one of the most pleasant experiences of my career. In fact, I would not be exaggerating at all, and it is my personal view that he always welcomed new ideas and new approaches. I always received full encouragement from him.

We heard from Dr. Swaminathan that many areas need to be covered for the enhancement of agricultural productivity and the well-being of the farmers. As you know, the theme of this year’s seminar is ‘Economic Growth through Agriculture and Fertilisers’. With the limited growth seen in agriculture in the last few years, of course, it has improved this year, unless agriculture improves, which caters to the needs of almost two-thirds of our population, the country simply cannot move forward. There are more than one reason for this, firstly, that increasing poverty in the rural areas is sowing the seeds of civil strife, which we should avoid. Secondly, a good agricultural crop and higher productivity and income to the farmer creates a demand for industrial goods. This also helps industry to grow. So, a very  large consumer base has to be given   more  purchasing   power if we have to move forward. Let us not forget that apart from food security, it is the well being of two-thirds of the population. We can ignore agriculture only at our own peril.

Among the many suggestions that Dr. Swaminathan has given, one in particular, I would like to highlight and which is directly related to FAI,  is  that  the 51st year of FAI should be devoted to soil health and  its improvement. In this context, I would like  to draw the kind attention of Dr. Swaminathan to the Newspaper Supplement  of  today, where it may be seen that we have emphasized on balanced  use  of  fertilisers, particularly, micronutrients, which we  feel have been neglected so far. Since, we have the pleasure of the presence of Mr. Madhukar  Gupta, Secretary, Fertilizers, I would like  to  request him and suggest that the government’s policies should include micronutrients also and the fertiliser companies should take the lead in this.

I would like to inform Dr. Swaminathan that in the FAI, we have a special programme for promotion and use of sulphur and potash, which are highly neglected areas. But so far as the emphasis on micronutrients is concerned, we have not done much. But we assure him that we will take up that also, so that sustainability, soil fertility and above all, agricultural productivity and farmers’ income keep improving.

I would like to thank Dr. Swaminathan for sparing his time and giving us such an enlightening lecture. I would also like to thank all of you for being present here and grace the occasion and make the entire event a success and provide a great source of encouragement for us to continue with our work in serving not only the fertiliser industry but the general community of the farmers.

Thank you.