Samuel Praveen Kumar, Joint Secretary (Extension), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare was addressing the knowledge sharing session ‘Harnessing Agriculture’s Potential- 2035’, organised by FICCI.
Samuel Praveen Kumar, Joint Secretary (Extension), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt of India said that it is imperative to adopt technology and create infrastructure to build a resilient agriculture sector in India.
Addressing the knowledge sharing session ‘Harnessing Agriculture’s Potential- 2035’, organised by FICCI, Kumar stated that earlier the government had a production centric approach in the agriculture sector but now we focus on the entire value chain. Every country across the world is embracing newer technology, following innovative ways to build a strong agriculture value chain. “By adopting these measures along with the collective efforts of all stakeholders, we can make Indian agriculture sector more robust, resilient, climate smart to match the global standards,” he added.
To promote infrastructure in the agriculture sector, Kumar said that the government introduced agriculture infrastructure fund scheme. “Till date, close to Rs 30,000 crore has been disbursed for these projects and this in turn has brought in investments around Rs 50,500 crore. This is going to change the landscape of the agriculture sector in the country as it is through infrastructure only that we can address the other inefficiencies in the supply chain,” he added.
Sanjiv Kanwar, Managing Director, YARA South Asia said, “The agri-channels who have been in this space for over 50 years are the original start-ups of Indian agriculture- they believed in the future of Indian agriculture and committed themselves to making India self-sufficient by serving farmers with right agri inputs and technology support. Channel partners must be recognized for providing the last-mile connectivity from lab to land.”
Siraj Hussain, Advisor, FICCI and Former Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Govt of India said, “FICCI is thrilled to have partnered with Yara India for this knowledge-sharing event, ‘Harnessing Agriculture’s Potential – 2035’. This partnership opens doors to explore needs of input dealers and channel partners.”
Ajai Rana, CEO, Savannah Seeds Pvt Ltd said that we can improve our farm production by utilizing high-quality seeds, proper crop nutrition, and efficient mechanization in the farming process.
Kaushal Jaiswal, Co-Chairman, FICCI National Agriculture Committee and MD, Rivulis Irrigation India Pvt Ltd said with so much potential in the agriculture sector, it becomes imperative that the Agri channel partners are suitably identified, supported and handheld so as to mainstream them for the long run.
Deepak Verma, Domain Lead- Agriculture, ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) said that ONDC brings all technology providers on one platform to provide unified solutions to the end user.
Arvind Chaudhary, Director General, Fertilizer Association of India said that there is a need to create awareness about balance use of fertilizers in farming.
