The new agriculture policy has proposed a separate television channel for agriculture extension and rural development. There will be equitable distribution of resources in the region and the Planning Commission agreed at the behest of the agriculture ministry to prepare a register of resources for every revenue village in the country. Krishi vigyan kendras will be set up in every districts of the country by the end of the Ninth Plan. The World Bank assisted $250-million National Agriculture Technology Project (NATP) and UP Diversified Agriculture Support Project (UPDASP) wll use infotech for extension work in 24 districts of the six participating states. Plant Variety Protection and Farmers' Rights' legislation will be enacted to ensuretraditional breeding rights of farmers and the community.

He said that agriculture extension policy will take into account the imbalances in agricultural growth both crop-wise and region-wise, suggest means and tools to measure these imbalances and the reasons for the plateauing agricultural growth in certain areas of the country and suggest remedies. Based on these, strategies will drawn up for doubling food production within the next 10 years to cater to domestic needs and export requirements.

He stated that according to an ICAR report, agricultural productivity in green revolution areas of Punjab and Haryana has been on decline due to excessive use of chemical fertilisers. Excessive use of ground water has depleted the water table. The excessive use of chemical fertilisers have also degraded the soil health and excessive dependance on chemical pesticides and insecticides have created new health and environment hazards. Even the milk is not free from chemical toxins as the cattle eat fodder that isexposed to excessive pesticides and insecticides.

Som Pal also stated that the new farm extension policy will consider the use of traditional methods of agriculture and test their utilities in the present context. He said the use of traditional green manure, compost, verimi-culture and bio-fertilisers are likely to improve soil's health. Similarly the use of natural enemies to pests and use of bio-pesticides are likely to free the crops from any chemical residues and remove any possible threats to health and environment.

The traditional methods of tillerage also maintained the soil health.Som Pal, however, stated that he was not totally opposed to modern scientific methods of agriculture which was responsible for ushering in the Green Revolution.

Certain adverse fallout of green revolution can be effectively remedied through traditional practices. Similarly equitable distribution of resources in the area will reduce the cost and subsidy burden for agriculture and arrest the depletion of ground watertable. In this context, the traditional practices has to be considered and a fine blend of both the traditional and modern practices should be arrived at, he said.

He disclosed that the new agriculture policy has incorporated these traditional practices in Article 5.

The minister noted that there has been a multiplicity of players in agriculture extension from both private and state sectors for crop-wise, input-wise and for credit. All these extension services should be well coordinated under one umbrella and farmers involvement in the process should be assured.

The extension services should be demand-driven and made accountable to farmers. Financial and social sustainability of extension services should be ensured through free dialogue with all stake holders. To begin with a nominal fee will be charged for training extension workers and farmers. There should be linkages between laboratory researches and practices and the researches should percolate to farm level.

There will be pruning of extensionpersonnels to reduce cost burden. MoUs will be signed with state governments for the progress of work and there will be regular reviews. Some districts can be franchised to NGOs or private sector for extension work. The Centre will provide one-time grant for development of infrastructure for these extension centres. Success stories in certain areas should be replicated and model farmers in each villages will be rewarded.