FARMERS MUST BENEFIT FROM
PROCESS OF GLOBALISATION, SAYS JAITLEY
MAJOR INITIATIVES
TO BOOST AGRO EXPORTS
Shri Arun Jaitley,
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Law & Justice
has said that unless it is ensured that the rural sector and the
Indian farmers receive visible benefits from economic reforms
and the process of globalisation, it may not be possible to accelerate
the economic growth. Announcing major policy initiatives to boost
agro and allied exports from India as part of the EXIM Policy
2003-04, Shri Jaitley said: "You would recollect that we
had introduced the Scheme of Agro Export Processing Zones (AEZ)
in the 2002-2007 Policy for end to end development of export of
specific products from a geographically contiguous area. We are
gratified that there has been an enthusiastic response to the
scheme from the States and the rural community. As many as 45
AEZs have been notified so far in different parts of the country.
We want to further accelerate this process. Agriculture and allied
products is our core competence. Not only is it diversified with
a large variety of crops, fruits, vegetables and flourishing dairy
sector, but we are among the world leaders in output of many products.
As all of you
are aware, one of the limiting factors in the increase in agricultural
productivity and quality and for protecting it from the vagaries
of monsoon is the lack of or inadequate investment in this sector
for bringing to the farmer the latest technology and knowledge
and for setting up critical infrastructure in the form of water
harvesting and soil management, better quality of seeds and optimal
use of inputs, adoption of scientific pre and post harvest treatment
and storage and establishment of linkage with international marketing.
In spite of the enthusiasm shown by many of the State Governments,
availability of investible resources in creation of such critical
infrastructure even in the AEZs has been a constraint. In view
of this, we propose to also facilitate and promote association
of corporates with proven credentials in the implementation of
AEZs in order to give a boost to productivity and quality of specified
agro products leading to accelerated exports. For this purpose,
we are having consultations with Ministry of Finance who are receptive
to the idea, to provide appropriate incentives to enable investments
by these corporates to infrastructure, agricultural extension,
processing, packing, storage, R&D and other facilities relating
to exports in the approved AEZs.
Another major
initiative to boost agri and allied products exports will be the
modification of norms for fixing DEPB rates for export of agriculture,
horticulture and allied products. In fixing DEPB rates for such
products, we shall take into account inputs such as fertilisers,
pesticides, certified seeds etc. used by the farmers prior to
processing of the products for exports. This would also ensure
that the Indian farmer uses the required inputs in a scientific
manner to boost productivity and quality. To begin with, this
facility will be extended only to selected products on the basis
of the recommendation of an Inter-Ministerial Committee".
