Agriculture-scientist rues country's failure to produce food to its full capacity

MYSORE: Former UAS VC and agricultural scientist M Mahadevappa on Monday said despite India having the best soil and agricultural conditions it has failed to produce food grains to its capacity and this is due to faulty package of practices adopted by farmers .

Speaking at Jagadguru Shivarathreshwara jatracelebrations after inaugurating the rural folk arts and cultural competitions at Suttur village near here , he said India has the best agri-climatic conditions in the world. In the world only three countries Brazil, China and India have the best agri-cilamtic conditions, and compared to the other two India has the best situation, he pointed out ruing India's failure to produce food grains to the full capacity . China which produced food grains less than India in the fifties is now producing 460 million tonnes of food grains compared to India's 250 million tonnes. If India's package of practices and scientific knowledge is implemented properly , India can produce double the present capacity of 250 million tonnes which is not only surplus it can be exported, he claimed , adding that government has failed use the knowledge in a right perspective . In addition to this red-tapism and corruption has also affected the farm sector , he said.