India's agriculture research must meet national priorities

India President Pratibha Patil urged research institutions to develop partnerships with the farming communities for effective transfer of technology.

Expressing concern at the slow pace of technology dissemination from lab to land, she said the successes in the laboratory were often missing on the field and the extension machinery was weak.

Agriculture research must focus on priorities that meet national priorities, she said at the annual convocation of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).

Favouring a complementary role for the industry in developing the farm sector, there were many benefits of agriculture and the corporate sector working together, Patil said.

Pointing to the low level of productivity in comparison to other countries, Patil asked the scientists to bridge the gap. The wheat yield had tripled to 2.8 tonnes per hectare in the past 50 years, but it was still half of what was produced on a hectare of land in the EU.

With 82% of farmers in the country being small and marginal, the economic limitation of small-sized land operations was the main challenge, she said.