Today educated youth are getting attracted towards the agriculture sector and the government is continuously encouraging them through various schemes and programmes to join the sector, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said this during the 2nd Sustainable Agriculture Summit & Awards, organised by FICCI in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Emphasising on adopting a holistic approach in the Indian agriculture sector, Tomar said that there is a need to have a balanced-holistic approach in the sector, which will lead to the more rapid development of agriculture. The minister said that agriculture has always been the priority of our country and we Indians have expertise in it. Agriculture is necessary for food security, but in the present political scenario, neighbouring, friendly and needy countries also need our help, for which our agriculture sector is also important.
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Explaining the importance of millets (nutritious cereals) in the Indian tradition, Tomar said that the demand and consumption of millets is increasing globally. On the initiative of India, United Nations has declared 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’, for which preparations are being made by the government.
The minister said that there are about 86 per cent of small farmers in the country, to promote whom the Central government has taken several concrete steps, including a scheme to set up 10,000 new FPOs (farmer producer organisations) with an expenditure of Rs 6,865 crore. The Central government is providing short-term loans to small farmers at concessional interest, increasing the limit to Rs18 lakh crore.
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The Central government has also focused on filling the gaps in agriculture infrastructure across the country. For this, the government has given one lakh crore rupees. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has been set up, while many concrete measures have been taken for improvement in the areas related to agriculture including animal husbandry and fisheries. Explaining the importance of technology in the agriculture sector, he said that the government has allowed the use of drones in agriculture, while the scope of micro-irrigation along with an emphasis on natural and organic farming to reduce the impact of climate change in the agriculture sector is also being expanded.
Speaking at the occasion, Samuel Praveen Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said that as a community, we must focus on use, reuse and repurpose all the resources because we have to include this and adopt the circular economy approach. We also need to work with educational institutions and schools to ensure sustainability becomes a part of the curriculum for future generations, he added.
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Underscoring the need for sustainable agricultural practices, Pravesh Sharma, Chairman, FICCI Task Force on FPOs said that unless we have a holistic vision in the agriculture sector, we may not be able to achieve the desired result. “Sustainability in agriculture is something that we should hope to achieve in the next two decades,” he added.
Highlighting the importance of the private sector in achieving sustainable agriculture, Niranjan Banodkar, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Sustainability, YES BANK, said, “While the Indian government is championing the cause of sustainable agriculture development, there is a need for unprecedented efforts from the private sector to complement these efforts. It is critical for business leaders to review their product portfolio and business processes from the prism of sustainability and implement specific interventions that improve the economic viability of farms, promote efficient use of natural resources, combat climate change and popularise sustainable consumption.”
Congratulating the winners of the FICCI Sustainable Agriculture Awards, Banodkar further added, “YES BANK is committed to working towards building knowledge, frameworks and methodologies required to mainstream the ‘Sustainability Thinking’ as well as collaborate with like-minded partners to implement best practices on the ground.”
Jitendra Joshi, Director – Seeds, South Asia, Corteva Agriscience and Chair FICCI Task Force on Millets highlighted that a conducive policy ecosystem is important which encourages investments in technologies that are sustainable and promote ‘growing more with less’. Secondly, incentivising farmers to adopt sustainable practices is a critical component of sustainable agriculture strategy. He applauded the government’s initiatives on millets and mentioned that FICCI Task Force on Millets aims to provide an integrated platform to ecosystem players to take millet sector to next level.
The FICCI-YES BANK Knowledge Report titled ‘Promoting Sustainability in Indian Agriculture: Focus Areas for Responsible Growth’ was released during the event.
List of Awardees at Sustainable Agriculture Summit and Awards
Award for Farmer Income Enhancement Programme
Large Corporates
ITC Limited, Secured First Position
Corteva Agriscience, secured second position
Bayer CropScience secured second position
JK Paper secured Encouragement Award
TAFE Ltd secured Encouragement Award
Mid Corporates
Vista Processed Foods Pvt. Ltd., secured the first position
Not-for-profit/foundations
Syngenta Foundation secured first position
Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation secured second position
Parachute Kalpavriksha Foundation secured Second
SME
Lawrencedale Agro Processing India Pvt. Ltd. secured first position
Award for Soil and Water Resource Conservation
Large Corporates
LT Foods Ltd. secured first position
DCM Shriram Ltd.
UPL Limited secured second position
Mid Corporates
SeedWorks International Pvt. Ltd.
SME
Rivulis Irrigation India Pvt Ltd secured First position
Award for Climate Resilient Agriculture Development
Large Corporates
Corteva Agriscience. secured First position
Nestle India Limited second position
Acme Cleantech Solutions Pvt ltd secured Encouragement Award
Mid Corporates
SeedWorks International Pvt. Ltd. Secured First Position
Not-for-profit organisations/foundations
Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre secured first Position
Award for Innovative Product/Technology/Services Promoting Sustainable Agriculture Development
Large Corporates
Sohan Lal Commodity Management Pvt. Ltd First position
Coca-Cola India Private Limited Secured First Position
Not For Profit Organisation/Foundations
HarvestPlus secured first position
SME
Agrinos India Pvt Ltd. secured first position
