Strongly advocating reforms in all segments of agriculture, the government on Friday said it will take up with Nabard its plans to double the rural credit in the next three years.

Strengthening of the public distribution system, lifting of restrictions on agri-marketing and freeing agricultural research from bureaucratic controls are amongst the initiatives in the offing. The target is to increase the foodgrain production to 300 million tonnes by 2011 from the current 212 million tonnes.

"We will discuss with the Reserve Bank of India and Nabard the ways to expand the coverage of rural credit through every available channel. A sizeable section of farmers are defaulters; avenues will be explored to provide them credit for facilitating purchase of better inputs", Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said in New Delhi.

He said the loss in yield or output per hectare and farmers' suicides were directly linked to lack of credit.

Regretting that the reforms process had bypassed agriculture, he said an expert committee would look into the issue of allowing freer inter-state movement of grains.

To enable this movement, a number of changes are required in agriculture marketing laws which will be done in consultation with the states.

"Unless states are prepared for an initiative and there is a perfect understanding with them, we will not be able to deliver the goods," he said, adding the Indian Council of
Agricultural Research will be freed from bureaucratic controls and like CSIR scientists they will be allowed to take up commercial projects.

Pawar said he would be happiest when removing restrictions including those on marketing farm goods both within and outside the country.

"There should not be any restrictions on onion exports just because a government fell in a state six years ago," he said, adding even removal of restrictions on sugarcane sale to only mills in a particular area needed to be looked into.

The government will favourably consider subsidies for new technologies in irrigation and food processing.

He said as envisaged in the UPA's Common Minimum Programme, food security will be strengthened and public distribution system revamped but only in consultation with the states.

As mentioned in the CMP, the procurement and administrative costs have to be reduced. Expenses of the Food Corporation of India with a budget of around Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) have been on the higher side.

He said the offtake of many items under the PDS had not been satisfactory. Not enough attention had been paid to items like sugar in which for more than one year there had hardly been any offtake by the states, thereby hitting sugar mills.

On the proposed integration of the current targeted PDS and doing away with the distinction between the above and below the poverty line families, he said the issue is yet to be studied.

He did not directly comment on the pros and cons of having genetically modified crops but said doors will not be closed to those technologies which assist in enhancing food security.

He said farmer suicides may have taken place due to the fall in yields; they not getting appropriate price for their produce and basic raw material not being available at an appropriate price at an appropriate time.