India needs 35 percent increase in vegetables production 

Nearly 400 participants across India participated in a webinar, titled ’Role of Agritech’ in vegetable farming organized by East-West Seed India and The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). 

Dr C D Mayee, President, South Asia Biotechnology Centre, was the Chairman of the session and also moderated the discussion.

Experts such as Dr Conrado Balatero, Group Breeding Manager, East-West Seed, Global, Dr Sangita Ladha, VP-Marketing, and Business Development, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd, New Delhi, Dr B S Tomar, Head, Division of Vegetable Science Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and Deepak Pareek, CEO & Founder, DigiAgri were the speakers for the webinar.

In his opening remarks, Dilip Rajan, Managing Director, East-West Seed India said, “East-West Seed India and FICCI have curated a series of six webinars to focus on the benefits of vegetable farming for smallholder farmers in India. Experts reiterated technology will disrupt Agri value chains, drive higher productivity, and create new channels to market.

Estimates indicate that India would require around a 35 percent increase in the production of vegetables over the next five years. 

V Ram Kaundinya, Director General of FSII and Head, Agriculture Committee FICCI said, “Agritech, combined with geographical location devices and remote sensing advancements, promises to change the way vegetable crops will be managed.”