Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Where there is a challenge there has to be a response.
You want to live in harmony with nature and with each other.
If agriculture goes wrong, nothing else will have a chance to go right.
It will be very foolhardy and suicidal for a country like India to forgo food security.
I have frequently pointed out that the future belongs to nations with grains and not guns.
Leadership is something which other people have to recognize. You cannot demand that I am a leader.
At least five cents in every acre should be reserved for the construction of ponds to store rainwater.
The air pollution in Delhi has become a matter of public health concern nationally and internationally.
In the current scenario of climate change, predictions of extreme weather events are becoming difficult.
Aberrations in monsoon behaviour are not uncommon, having been with us throughout our agricultural history.
There is talk about the need for a second Green Revolution. However, such a revolution is nowhere in sight.
Ultimately, multiple livelihood opportunities alone can insulate farmers in rainfed areas from the debt trap.
Looking ahead, the bright spot in Indian agriculture is the availability of a large untapped production reservoir.
One of India's major blessings is the rich store of experience and knowledge available in the rural and tribal areas.
The loss of land for food security has to be measured not only in quantitative terms but also in respect of land use.
Training of farmers in integrated pest management is exceedingly important to protect them during the use of pesticides.
Agriculture can trigger job-led economic growth, provided it becomes intellectually satisfying and economically rewarding.
Rain harvesting should be made mandatory and should be made more systematic to ensure that every drop of rain is preserved.
The government only gives subsidies for nitrogenous fertilisers. With the result, farmers do not apply balanced fertilisers.
India's future has to be built on the foundation of social protection of the economically and socially handicapped sections.
Farming is the riskiest profession in the world since the fate of the crop is closely linked to the behaviour of the monsoon.
Contract farming can be promoted if it is structured on the basis of a win-win situation both for the producer and the purchaser.
The smaller the farm, the greater is the need for marketable surplus, so that the family will have cash income to meet their needs.
In Punjab wheat production it is a 'gamble of temperature' unlike other parts of the country where there is a 'gamble of rainfall'.
The Climate Risk Managers can be trained in the science and art of managing uncertain rainfall patterns leading to drought or flood.
Hybrids have become an important method for improving productivity or yield in many crops including the self-pollinated crop like rice.
The future of food security will depend on a combination of the ecological prudence of the past and the technological advances of today.
We have to devise ways to lower the cost of production and reduce the risks involved in agriculture such as pests, pathogens, and weeds.
India unfortunately has the unenviable reputation of being the home to the largest number of undernourished children, women and men in the world.
Most pesticides lose their efficacy after a few years, because of pest resistance to pesticides. This is why companies go on changing the varieties.
To sum up, agriculture has made important progress and our farmers have now shown that they are second to none in terms of improving production and productivity.
Agriculture involves crop husbandry, animal husbandry, forestry and fisheries. Your income will go up only if you look at the system, and not from one crop alone.
After the Green Revolution, I came up with the concept of the Evergreen Revolution. In this we will see increase in farm productivity but without ecological harm.
My own motivation has come from the fact that all the indicators in the world, the hunger index or whatever index you say, shows a high prevalence of malnutrition.
To ensure food security for all, we should be clear about the definition of the problem, the precise index of measuring impact and the road map to achieve the goal.
The government should promote community nurseries of mangrove species and other appropriate tree species chosen under the coastal bio-shield and agro-forestry programmes.
In spite of the dominant role played by women in both farming, they are denied credit as they lack land titles. Only a small percentage of Kisan Credit Cards goes to them.
Denying a child even at birth an opportunity for the full expression of its innate genetic potential for physical and mental development is the cruellest form of inequity.
Farmers in rain-fed, dry areas such as Vidarbha and parts of Andhra Pradesh may own several hectares of land but their farm produce depends on the vagaries of the monsoon.
See, technology can advance yield and productivity, but only public policy can advance the income of farmers. There has to be a synergy between technology and public policy.
The purpose of developing a methodology for what they call genetic control over seed, is mainly to ensure that F1 hybrids are pure and that every year you have to buy the seed.
Agriculture is the backbone of the livelihood security system of nearly 700 million people in the country and we need to build our food security on the foundation of home grown food.
Organic farming and other earlier methods can be effective, provided they can help us improve soil health and plant health. Plant pesticides like neem and tobacco need to be promoted.
Micronutrient deficiency in the soil results in micronutrient malnutrition in people, since crops grown on such soils tend to be deficient in the nutrients needed to fight hidden hunger.
Famines were frequent in colonial India and some estimates indicate that 30 to 40 million died out of starvation in Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Bengal during the later half of the 19th century.
I always ask the farmers, when you get up in the morning, is there some information which you are lacking which you would like to have? Invariably they talk about weather, the market price.
The Green Revolution was criticised by social activists on the ground that the high-yield technology involving the use of mineral fertilizers and chemical pesticides is environmentally harmful.
The goal of my University education was to get into a medical college and equip myself to run a hospital in Kumbakonam left behind by my father, M.K. Sambasivan, who died at a young age in 1936.
I had the privilege of knowing and working with Norman Borlaug - who has been aptly described by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee as the greatest hunger fighter of our time - for nearly 50 years.
In India, unlike in the United States and Australia, agriculture is not just a food producing enterprise but also the backbone of the livelihood security of nearly 60 per cent of the population.