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Agribusiness, AgroPolicy

To facilitate the widespread adoption of technology, the budget should also incentivise the private sector participation in building a robust agricultural innovation ecosystem.

The Union Budget 2024-25 is on the horizon, and with it comes a wave of anticipation for allocations and reforms from India’s agrarian community. There are numerous existing schemes for agriculture sector, but their efficiency needs to improve. Agri industry is looking forward to positive changes in policy and financial support for R& D in agri- technology in upcoming budget.

Raju Kapoor, Director, Industry & Public Affairs, FMC India shared his views on upcoming Union budget which will be presented in parliament on July 23.

“The agricultural sector which is the backbone of the Indian economy has been through a challenging year. With monsoon playing truant, agricultural growth has diminished from 4.7 per cent last year to 1.4 per cent, which further added to the rural distress. This budget presents a crucial opportunity to address these concerns and propel the sector towards a brighter future. The government must prioritise agriculture and rural India, focusing on making farmers more resilient while simultaneously mitigating food inflation that disproportionately affects society’s underprivileged segments.

Firstly, the budget must acknowledge the stark reality of food inflation, aggravated by stock restrictions on essential commodities such as pulses, wheat, and rice. This disproportionately affects the most vulnerable sections of society, demanding immediate attention. Similarly, the import dependence on pulses and oilseeds, the government’s commitment to providing free rations under the Annapurna Yojana, and climate change further necessitate a robust domestic production system supported by developing an innovation ecosystem.

The government should prioritise R&D investments aligned with national priorities, focusing on developing climate-resilient crop varieties, microbial products, and sustainable farming practices. To facilitate the widespread adoption of technology, the budget should also incentivize the private sector participation in building a robust agricultural innovation ecosystem. Tax incentives for R&D investments by the private sector can encourage the development and integration of cutting-edge technologies. Furthermore, GST on agricultural inputs, such as agrochemicals, should be brought under the GST Council’s purview and potentially lowered to 12% maximum to ease the financial burden on farmers.

The Kisan Samridhi Yojana should be strengthened to empower farmers with greater financial support and its utilization at farmers’ hands should be linked to the use of advanced agricultural inputs. Kisan Samruddhi coupons that could be used to purchase agricultural inputs would enhance productivity. This will ensure timely access to essential resources and subsequent financial support to the farmers. We expect that the budget should have adequate resources for capacity-building initiatives, and should incentivize the investments by private companies to train farmer groups, particularly women, creating awareness and adoption of modern growing practices.  Easy access to adequate and affordable credit will further empower farmers to be able to adopt these technologies and enhance their livelihoods.

Extending the PLI scheme for production and export of latest innovation crop protection chemicals in India will provide long term dividend to India. Similarly, aligned to the theme of making India the Global Drone Hub, expanding the PLI scheme for building the agri-drone component manufacturing ecosystem will go a long way.      

In a nutshell, we envisage that this budget is focused on agriculture, which will further lay the foundation for a strong, sustainable, and prosperous future for Indian farmers and the nation.”

To facilitate the widespread adoption of technology,

Agro Universities, Agrotech, Bee keeping, Company News, India

To encourage women farmers towards entrepreneurship and generate sustainable income through bee keeping.

To enhance the ecosystem of beekeeping in Uttarakhand, FMC India, a leading global agricultural sciences company, in collaboration with GB Pant University of Agriculture & Technology (GBPUAT) organized a day long workshop to observe World Bee Day. The initiative was part of FMC’s flagship program, Project Madhushakti which was launched in 2022. The objective is to encourage women farmers towards entrepreneurship, generate sustainable income and raise the living standards of the rural families in Uttarakhand, while simultaneously support biodiversity and higher crop productivity.

The workshop was hosted by Department of Entomology and Honeybee Research & Training Centre of the university. It witnessed participation from bee rearing agents across the state of Uttarakhand, followed by their felicitation along with students and department research heads. Scientists and industry experts addressed students to help them inculcate knowledge and skill around apiculture. The collaborative workshop hosted at the university was attended by dignitaries like Dr Manmohan Singh Chauhan, Vice Chancellor, GBPUAT, Raju Kapoor, Director, Public & Industry Affairs, FMC India, Dr AS Nain, Director of Research, GBPUAT, Dr. Renu and Dr. Pramod Mall, Head, Department of Entomology, GBPUAT.

Project Madhushakti is a first-of-its-kind innovative sustainable development initiative in India. Spanning three years, the project is planned for the rural areas of Uttarakhand, located in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountain range, with abundant source of natural herbs and flora useful for honey production. The project, now in its second year, will train 750 women farmers as beekeepers. More than 8,000 people from over 20 villages are expected to directly benefit via an increase of up to 30 per cent productivity in various fruits and other crops through good pollination.

The day-long program was inaugurated by Vice-Chancellor of the University Dr Manmohan Singh Chauhan, an academic-management leader and a world-renowned scientist in the field of animal biotechnology. Dr Singh underlined the importance of honeybee not only for providing valuable natural super food honey but also products such as propolis, royal jelly, venom and wax. He also informed the audiences that honeybees can support enhancing crop productivity of different cross-pollinated crops ranging from 15 to 200 per cent.

Dr AS Nain, Director for Research, GBPUAT said, “We take pride in our association with FMC India. In a biodiversity rich state like Uttarakhand, the potential of beekeeping remains untapped which is developing with Project Madhushakti. Scientific beekeeping will harness the potential of Uttarakhand hills and generate employment and additional income for poor farmers. We will continue to provide training and learning opportunities in collaboration with FMC to establish bee keeping as a lucrative field for women entrepreneurs.”

Speaking at the occasion, Raju Kapoor, Director, Public & Industry Affairs, FMC India said, “Bee rearing is at the cusp of change in our country with India’s National Beekeeping and Honey Mission. FMC is grateful to be contributing through a project with the scalability and impact of Madhushakti. We will continue to work towards the enhancement of women’s skills. The lecture sessions through our partnership with GB Pant University delivered by highly experienced scientists and bee fostering agents will impart immersive knowledge and training to the women farmers that can be passed within their community. We look forward to expanding our reach and benefiting more farmers through these offerings.”

To encourage women farmers towards entrepreneurship and

Agro chems – Chemicals, India, Opinions

 By Raju Kapoor, Director, Public & Industry Affairs, FMC India

India’s agrochemical industry has consistently clocked a double-digit CAGR of 16 per cent over the last five years against the global CAGR of 3 per cent. 2022 was a fruitful year too, clipping a 23 per cent growth, despite the hot summer and delayed monsoons. Factors such as increased crop production, healthy reservoir levels and an improvement in farm income all contributed to industry growth. With farmers learning more about improving their yields exponentially through agrochemicals, the market is set to continue its double-digit growth into 2023. Research firm Crisil predicts a growth rate of 15-17 per cent this year, as the sector is poised to solve two behemoth challenges – food and nutritional security to alleviate hunger and restoration of ecological balance in our lands. Let’s look at some of the factors sustaining the momentum.

Supply chain disruptions

The import/export game is changing tides in the sector. The Chinese government’s environmental clampdown has led to the closure of approximately 35 per cent small agrochemical manufacturing industries. When coupled with the US-China trade war, countries are adopting a ‘de-risk China’ strategy where India emerges as an   alternate and viable global sourcing point for agrochemicals. We can expect exports to remain one of the key contributors with a share of over 50 per cent in the industry’s total revenue in 2023.

Roll out of new crops 

While we are one of the largest producers of agrochemicals in the world, our farmlands use only 340 gms of pesticide per hectare, resulting in a crop loss of Rs 2 lakh crore per annum because of pest attacks. For example, Phalaris minor (gehunsa), a dangerous rabi weed that attacks wheat crops, can lead to 15-40 per cent crop loss if left unattended. With weeds consistently building better resistance against crop solutions, farmers will find it increasingly harder to produce good yields. Often, it’s the financial constraints that restrain our farmers from using pesticides. However, as food prices peak globally, farmers are expected to benefit from the surplus and spend on this heretofore low priority area.

Another aspect that will augur good growth of the sector is the government’s thrust for crop diversification. According to the Economic Survey 2022, our existing cropping pattern is skewed towards growing sugarcane, paddy, or wheat, which has resulted in the depletion of groundwater resources at an alarming rate in many parts of the country. Today, the regions that grow these crops face high to extremely high-water stress levels. With agriculture using 90 per cent of the groundwater table, the water crisis that we face is ushering in the cultivation of new crops. To promote sustainable agriculture, replenish the diminishing groundwater table, reduce import dependency, and help farmers get higher incomes, the government has increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of pulses, oilseeds, horticulture crops, and millets.

To read more click on: https://agrospectrumindia.com/e-magazine

 By Raju Kapoor, Director, Public & Industry

Finance, Interaction, Opinions

The forthcoming budget must look to leverage the resilience to enable the growth of agriculture by more than 4 per cent in the coming few years while being more environmentally responsible. There are certain crucial aspects to be considered for this transformation. Setting up a National Agriculture Council on the lines of the GST council, comprising of centre and state representatives along with the representatives of the private food and agriculture sector to drive long-term strategy can prove to be the stepping stone. Incentivising access to formal banking and financial services basis good loan repayment practices will help in uplifting the current state using enhancing the credit availability to agriculture to beyond Rs 18 lakh crore at affordable interest rates for farmers and farm-level processing infrastructure, instead of being consumed by corporates. Alongside, incentivising the private sector players in agriculture who handhold the formation and growth of FPOs/FPCs by offering tax breaks on such substantiated investments can be beneficial in the longer run. Further, upgrading the quality control infrastructure across the country to ensure the availability of quality inputs to farmers and agriculture produce to processors and consumers will strengthen the backbone of Indian agriculture.

As the farmers look to navigate through the pandemic, bringing down the GST levied on agricultural inputs to a maximum of 8 per cent and exemption of income tax on the investments being made by agricultural sector companies can be substantial considering agricultural extension is critical to technology adoption. Following that up, incomes three times the investment in R&D each year must be exempted from the income tax levy.

The upcoming budget can additionally provide special incentives for R&D, manufacturing, training and certification of precision agriculture mechanisation including drones to encourage sustainable agriculture and develop India as a smallholder farmers’ precision agriculture hub. Linking the PM Kisan Nidhi for the purchase of advanced inputs by the farmers decontrolling fertilisers from subsidy and starting a DBT system for bonafide farmers to enhance efficiency can be probable solutions. Having the technical grade pesticides import classification changed from the existing chapter 3808 HSN code to HSN 2909 aligned to the global norms can also iron out the supply chain for Indian agriculture.

The forthcoming budget must look to leverage