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National Agriculture Policy

Objectives of the National Agriculture Policy:

The overall objective of the National Agriculture Policy is to make the nation self-sufficient in food through increasing production of all crops including cereals and ensure a dependable food security system for all. The specific objectives of the National Agriculture Policy are to:

• ensure a profitable and sustainable agricultural production system and raise the purchasing power by increasing real income of the farmers;
• preserve and develop land productivity;
• reduce excessive dependence on any single crop to minimize the risk;
• increase production and supplies of more nutritious food crops and thereby ensuring food security and improving nutritional status;
• preserve existing bio-diversity of different crops;
• take up programs for the introduction, utilization and extension of bio-technology;
• take necessary steps to ensure environmental protection as well as ‘environment-friendly sustainable agriculture’ through increased use of organic manure and strengthening of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs;
• take appropriate steps to develop an efficient irrigation system and encourage farmers in providing supplementary irrigation during drought with a view to increasing cropping intensity and yield;
• establish agriculture as a diversified and sustainable income generating sector through strengthening of ‘Farming System’ based agricultural production and agro-forestry programs;
• take effective steps to ensure input supplies to the farmers at fair prices in a competitive market and remove difficulties at the farmers’ level which have arisen out of the privatization of input distribution system;
• develop marketing system to ensure fair prices of agricultural commodities;
• introduce an appropriate institutional system of providing credit to ensure the availability of agricultural credit in time;
• produce and supply of agricultural commodities as required by the industrial sector;
• reduce imports of agricultural commodities and find out newer opportunities for increasing exports as well;
• create opportunities for establishing agro-processing and agro-based industries;
• protect interests of the small, marginal and tenant farmers;
• update the agricultural system in the light of the Agreement on Agriculture under WTO, SAFTA and other international treaties by protecting the national interests; and
• develop contingency management system to combat natural disasters.