Against the backdrop of rising concern over a looming food crisis, the World Bank made a strong case for the revival of agriculture in India and South Asia.
Adolfo Brizzi, the Bank's Sector Manager for Agriculture and Rural Development in South Asia, said though the subcontinent has made enormous strides in productivity after the green revolution, agricultural growth in the region in recent years has been under three per cent, well below growth rates in other sectors.
"In a number of countries, the policies that helped make the green revolution possible remain pretty much the same," Brizzi said. "The environment around agriculture is dramatically changed, but many of the policies have not kept up to these changes."
He argued that the situation, dire though it is, provides an opportunity to revive the agriculture sector.
"This requires a change of mindset in recognising that a more demand-driven approach to agriculture development will require greater involvement of the private sector and more effective investments by governments."
Text: Aziz Haniffa in Washington, DC
Image: A rice vendor prepares sacks of rice for sale in Kolkata. | Photograph: Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images
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