Centre should strengthen PDS to check spiralling prices: Minister

West Bengal Agriculture Minister Naren De today said the Centre should aim at strengthening the Public Distribution System (PDS) instead of spending crores of rupees on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for foodgrains to check the skyrocketting prices of essentials.

Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the ''Agro Protech 2009'', the flagship Conference-cum-Exhibition on the Agro and Food sector, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here, he said MSP was a kind of subsidy given to the market as the Centre was purchasing foodgrains under MSP which was usually higher than market price.

Big farmers were reaping the benefits of the MSP, the Minister said adding the Centre should reduce the amount of subsidy given to the market in terms of MSP and use the rupees to strenghten the PDS.

Strong PDS would help the Centre fight soaring prices of essentials, he added.

As the Centre had major hoardings of foodgrains, it should take measures to control spiralling prices, he suggested and added that the state government had urged the Centre to sell essential commodities through PDS.

The Minister said a comprehensive strategy needed to be taken for attaining four to five per cent growth rate in the agricultural sector in the short to medium term. In order to increase the productivity of soil and for more effective use of fertiliser, the state government was carrying out a compresensive project on soil-mapping in the state, Mr De added.

Soil of about 12 districts had already been collected so far, he said adding the work of the project would be completed within April next year.

Scientists would test the soils of different areas and determine what kind and quantity of fertiliser should be used for increasing soil productivity, he stated. Earlier, speaking at the inaugural session of the event, Mr De said ensuring food security must be the top priority in the country.

Hybrid, high-yielding seeds and other modern agricultural technology inputs must reach the farmers to improve agricultural productivity.

He also stressed on the availability of proper irrigation facilities and called for reducing dependence upon rainwater. Stating that West Bengal was one of the front-runners in agriculture in India, the Minister said the state possessed immense potential in sectors like food processing and horticulture.

-- (UNI) -- 05CA28.xml

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