The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), the apex body guiding the course of the sector, has taken a cue from what is happening to the industrial sector to look out for more opportunities. ICAR director general RS Paroda said, "We are now planning to concentrate more on the requirements made by the global market and value addition rather than on short-term goals.

Paroda said Indian agriculture is "poised for a big leap forward." The growth of agriculture GDP in the country is targeted to go up from the current 0.3 per cent to 1 per cent during the Ninth Five-Year Plan, he said. This is sought to be achieved through a higher allocation for the agriculture sector.

Plan allocation has grown to Rs 2,500 crore during the current Plan from the previous Plan allocation of Rs 900 crore. Strategies worked out to reach the target include an all outefforts to make the maximum utilisation of resources, arranging a loan of Rs 1,000 crore from the World Bank and mobilising funds from higher institutions in the agriculture sector.

ICAR will also take the lead in intensifying the agriculture-village link to increase agriculture productivity. An integrated farm management system, involving scientists from varied disciplines and farmers, is also being evolved, Paroda said.

Taking technology to the fields has been a thrust area and "we need to work harder towards making this a reality," he added.

Paroda said there is a move to introduce multi-tier cropping pattern all over the country to boost agriculture production. For this purpose, the department is planning to set up district level bodies under collectors.

These bodies of scientists and farmers will evolve methods of sustainable agriculture taking the research on these lines to the level of actual experimentation.

Another major step is to set up farm science centres all over the country with theassistance of the World Bank which is providing $250 million.Paroda felt that the plantations and fisheries sector in the country were doing pretty well. But he emphasised the urgent need for the fisheries sector to diversify into more value-addition and innovative methods to boost profitability. Rearing of fish in protected fresh water holds out scope for employment generation, he said.