President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has called for developing some basic models to bring farmers into partnership arrangements with the Small and Medium Enterprises and the corporate world. Addressing a committee of Governors on the farmer-industry partnership at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi today, she sought region specific models for the same. She asserted that the integration of agriculture with other sectors of the economy is important for sustainable development.

Knowledge inputs like weather parameters and weather forecasts, market situations must be made available to farmers at the local level. Patil also pointed out that farmers need information on water management and modern irrigation technologies, particularly drip and sprinkle irrigation, new user friendly technologies, new scientific methods of crop planning, warehousing and food processing technologies as well. She suggested that this co-ordination should be done by involving Panchayati Raj Institutions.

Our correspondent reports that the committee Of Governors is being headed by Punjab and Rajasthan Governor Shivraj Patil .The day long deliberation is the follow up of the Governors conference held in October this year. Governors of Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Mizoram are participating in the conference.