Times Agricultural Journal

Showcasing Indian Agriculture

The CII agriculture summit showcased the success stories of both the private sector and the government

“Our agri-culture economy is not a scarcity economy, it is a economy of surplus,” said Union Agriculture Minister, Ajit Singh, while addressing the Agriculture Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on April 3, 2003. Besides Mr Singh and the CII members, the Chief Minister of Punjab, and the Agriculture Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal attended the summit. While corporate honchos like ICICI bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, ITC, Pitambari marketing and spokespersons from Indian Farmers and Industries alliance provided the other end of the spectrum.

Addressing CII members, Mr Singh said that there was a need for greater corporate sector involvement in agriculture. He identified three specific areas of input, support, credit and marketing, as possible priority areas for corporate involvement. Companies manufacturing inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides need to provide information and extension services to farmers to ensure that the technology could be advantageously applied to agriculture. Another area to be addressed was subsidies. Mr Ajit Singh said that any reduction should be so calibrated that there is no impact on the output. He also launched the CD-Rom of the ET Knowledge Series, ‘Rural Economy’.

Delivering the keynote address, Yogi Deveshwar, Chairman, ITC, said that there was a need to change mindsets in agriculture. He advocated the utilisation of wasteland and creating a network of farmers as done by the E-chaupal model. Earlier presenting a road map for Indian Agriculture, Shankar Krishnan, McKinsey & Co. proposed a four-pronged strategy for accelerating the rate of growth of agriculture in India. The strategy included, first, shifting from a piecemeal approach to an integrated chain. Second, shifting the focus from production to the market. Third, pursuing a collaborative route to ensure success and fourth following a ‘do it and fix it’ model rather than wait for the ideal situation.

Anand Mahindra, Vice President, CII & Vice Chairman and MD, Mahindra and Mahindra, said that there was a perception that the twelve years of reforms have only focused on sectors other than agriculture and that there was a need to change this. Contrary to popular perception, there was a huge opportunity for the corporate sector to work with farmers and there is a need for both the Central Government and State Governments to promote this, he added. Papers were presented by other State Ministers as well.

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