The Prime Minister has called for a holistic approach to agriculture for sustainable use of scarce land and water resources. Speaking after the release of a book by eminent agriculture scientist Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Dr. Manmohan Singh said that agriculture and food production is too important to be confined to narrow silos and should be looked in an overall integrated manner. He said that apart from increasing per hectare output livelihoods, particularly of the poor, needs to be taken care of as well. Dr. Manmohan Singh said that special attention has also to be paid to improve the productivity of small and marginal farmers and of dry land agriculture. The Prime Minister said, the challenges posed by the food inflation have brought into sharp focus the issues related to productivity of food crops. He said that a core group of central Ministers and Chief Ministers has been set-up and expressed the hope that the recommendations of the group will help in addressing the issue of increase in the prices of essential commodities.