THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even when there is notable growth in health,tourism,education and IT sectors, it is painful that the state is being pulled back in core areas of agriculture and industries with an alarming negative growth, observed Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. He also said that it’s high time the trend was reversed and the government was keen to go in for value addition of agricultural products and innovative hi-tech farming.Inaugurating the lecture series on ‘The State of the Economy’, organised by the State Planning Board here on Friday, Chandy said that India was facing problems on growth rate and any new approach to ensure better results should be welcomed.“In Kerala, agriculture and industries are facing a deep crisis. Except in the case of rubber, wherein the state can boast of achieving exceptionally high productivity and growth, paddy and coconut, which are identified as the state’s own products, are suffering,” he said. “The state budget is focussed on revamping the agriculture sector and the outlay for promotion of hi-tech farming is aimed at this. The Cabinet had held discussions with the chairman of the Coconut Development Board twice, with the objective to ensure value addition of coconut products.“Kerala’s share in the market at present is very negligible. The state is also going to concentrate on organic farming,” he said. “We have to become target-oriented.The scenario of depending on neighbouring states for day-to-day needs of the state has to be changed,” he asserted. Presiding over the session, Planning Board vice -chairman K M Chandrasekhar said that the state has to think in both the global and national context while charting its course on the development front.“It is a highly integrated global economy today.Kerala has to open up to the winds of change blowing across the world,” he said and observed that economy is a dicey subject since what is said today could become wrong tomorrow.Delivering the first lecture afterwards, Planning Commission member Soumitra Chaudhari said that the underlying growth impetus in the Indian economy was strong. However, if investment and supply levels do not pick up,excess demand conditions may persist which would continue to fuel inflationary pressures. Several states with lower incomes had shown a pick up in growth over the past decade leading to a convergence but there was more diversification in the higher income groups. Planning Board member-secretary Subrata Biswas, Planning Board former vice chairman V Ramachandran,CDS director Dr Pulapra Balakrishnan and economists Dr B A Prakash and Dr Mary George took part in the panel discussion.
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