Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar today said that adequate water availability is must for enhancing farm productivity in the country. Addressing a National Conclave on Micro Irrigation in New Delhi, Mr Pawar said that after visiting the drought affected states the ministry felt the urgency of developing plans and missions for preserving water available and steps is being taken in this regard. He said, exports of country's agriculture produce touched a record level of 37 billion dollars with a fairly diverse basket of agriculture commodities in this year.

Speaking on the occasion, Agriculture Secretary Ashish Bahuguna said that water is increasingly becoming a scarce commodity and there is a need for adopting water conservation technologies in a more comprehensive fashion in the country.

AIR correspondent reports that the national conclave aims to review the current scenario and encourage the stakeholders to raise relevant issues and come up with new ideas, which will give major impetus in spread of micro irrigation in the country.