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duction target at 298.3 million tonnes for the 2020-21 crop year, up 2 per cent from the record output achieved in the current year. To achieve this target there are multiple challenges and opportunities ahead of this sector and these can be resolved or leveraged only with the collaboration of the industry, farmers and government policymakers.
SANJIV LAL
MD & CEO, RALLIS INDIA LIMITED
Challenges
Agriculture is a high priority sector in terms of meeting the national demand and sustenance of farmers. Major roadblocks to the growth of agriculture in India are the deficiency of investments in infrastructure, food processing, implementation and adoption of modern technology. The recent announcements in the Union Budget where Rs. 11,588 crores have been allocated to Pradhan Mantri Gram Sinchai Yojana will benefit the farming community enormously. Some of the key challenges in the downstream agriculture value chain are losses in the food chain, scarcity of Infrastructure investment and adoption of technology can resources and multiple intermediaries, make India “Aatmanirbhar” and emerge as an important and lack of transparency and traceabilplayer in the global agriculture value chain ity. Every year, 20-30 per cent of food produced by farmers, worth about Rs. 45,000 crores are damaged by pests and crop diseases in India. Pre-harvest losshe world in the recent past has not witnessed a cri- es can be addressed through the adopsis as disruptive and widespread as the COVID-19 tion of appropriate crop protection and pandemic. While no sector has remained immune seed technologies. This will also help in to the impact of the pandemic, one sector that has increasing the quality of farm produce been an exception is the agriculture sector. which will fetch more income to farmAgriculture contributes 17 per cent to India’s GDP ers. and more than 60 per cent of rural households Food safety is an area of “Adoption in the country depend on the agriculture secmajor concern for farmers. of digital tor and allied activities. Enhancing the allocaThey need to be aware technologies like AI tion to the Rural Infrastructure Development of the potential for conand agricultural robots Fund to Rs. 40,000 crores and the recent protamination as they work will further accelerate posal to double the Micro Irrigation Fund corin the fields and as food the growth and attract pus by another Rs. 5,000 crores in the Union is transported from one educated workforce Budget 2021 will provide a major boost to the place to the next. Another to the sector” sector. invisible challenge that imThe government has set the food grain propacts the sector most is the
AGRICULTURE: FRONTRUNNER IN ATMANIRBHAR ASPIRATIONS
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