Agriculture, industry key to economic growth: Minister

Rourkela: Minister of Energy and Information & Public Relations, Arun Sahoo, said that agriculture and industry have traditionally been viewed as two separate sectors both in terms of their characteristics and their role in economic growth. He was speaking at a symposium on ‘Harmony of Environment and Economic Growth through Industrialization’ organized by Journalists Association, Rourkela (JAR) and National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Rourkela today at the Community Center, Sector-7 here.

The minister observed that agriculture has been considered the hallmark of the first stage of development, while the degree of industrialization has been taken to be the most relevant indicator of a country’s progress.

Moreover, the proper strategy for growth has often been conceived as a more or less gradual shift from agriculture to industry, with the onus on agriculture to finance the shift in the first stage, he added.

Sahoo said that agricultural products are shaped by technologies of growing complexity and incorporate the results of major research and development efforts as well as increasingly sophisticated individual and collective preferences regarding nutrition, health and the environment.

While one can still distinguish the phase of production of raw materials from the processing and transformation phase, often this distinction is blurred by the complexity of technology and the extent of vertical integration, the energy minister said. The industrialization of agriculture and development of agro-processing industries is thus a joint process which is generating an entirely new type of industrial sector, he stated.

Minister of Commerce and Transport, Subrat Tarai deliberated on economic growth of fields like agriculture and industrialization. He said that harmony of environment and economic growth through industrialization can be achieved through sustainable industrial development. He added that in due course of time, the rapid growth of industries creates environmental pollution, and the only way to maintain the balance between the two sectors for economic growth is to plant more trees, thereby creating stability between environment and rapid industrialization.

Senior Journalist Rabi Das said that massive development activities across world causing pollution.

Himanshu Lal, SP, Rourkela, Anupam Gayen, Branch Manager, NSIC, Rourkela, Niranjan Mallick, Kishori Jena, Nrushingha Jena and Sanjay Rungta were felicitated for their remarkable service towards society in their respective fields.

General Secretary JAR Sibaram Patra spoke about the organization and read annual report while President, JAR, Biranchi Narayan Pattnaik proposed the vote of thanks. The whole programme was coordinated and anchored by Kunja Bihari Rout, Joint secretary, JAR.