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Digital infrastructure plays pivotal role in driving agri innovation, empowerment: Agriculture Secretary

Feb 28, 2024

Identifying opportunities for value addition in livestock products with increased investment in processing infrastructure is the need of hour: Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying

 

NEW DELHI, 28 February 2024: Mr Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt of India yesterday said that digital infrastructure plays a pivotal role in driving agricultural innovation and empowerment. He articulated a bold vision for leveraging digital technologies to revolutionize India's agricultural sector, highlighting the need for a comprehensive digital ecosystem to empower farmers and stakeholders across the value chain.

Addressing the national conclave of FICCI ‘Viksit Bharat@2047’, Mr Ahuja emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships in harnessing digital technologies to address agricultural challenges and unlock new opportunities for growth. He emphasized the significance of risk management, R&D in developing climate-resilient seeds and sustainable agricultural practices, focusing on maintaining productivity while ensuring environmental conservation.

He also, encouraged collaboration and innovation to propel India towards agricultural prosperity, ensuring a brighter future for generations to come.

Ms Alka Upadhyaya, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Govt. of India said that the livestock sector contributes around 30 per cent to the agriculture sector. She highlighted that the total output of the livestock sector is 15.63 lakh crore out of which milk alone contributes to about 10 lac crores. India has become the dairy of the world with about 25 per cent of the global milk supply originating from the country, also India has emerged as the second-largest producer of eggs.

Ms Upadhyaya further added that identifying opportunities for value addition in livestock products and advocating for increased investment in processing infrastructure to enhance the quality and competitiveness of Indian livestock products in domestic and international markets is the need of the hour.

Dr Ashok Gulati, Distinguished Professor, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) emphasized on boosting productivity, diversification to high value crop, capturing best exports markets, and value addition. He said that best part of digital infrastructure is that there is no leakage in the system and the vision of Viksit Bharat will be to develop a digital infrastructure where our farmers can put their commodities for sale at all India level and have access to all India Markets.

Mr Rajeev Chawla, Chief Knowledge officer and Advisor (Digital Agriculture) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare, Govt. of India said that development of AgriStack, a digital infrastructure like Aadhaar, is aimed at providing essential details about farmers, including land ownership, location, and crop information.

Ms Aparna Bijapurkar, Managing Director and Partner, BCG, highlighted the importance of risk capital to support farmers and value chain players in addressing various challenges across the agricultural sector.

Mr Hemant Sikka, Co-Chair, FICCI National Agriculture Committee and President - Farm Equipment, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd said that India boasts the largest tractor market globally in terms of the number of units sold, with the industry being three times the size of the US tractor industry and two and a half times larger than China's.

Mr Kaushal Jaiswal, Co-Chair, FICCI National Agriculture Committee and Managing Director, Rivulis Irrigation India Pvt Ltd said that India faces significant challenges from climate change in agriculture which leads to an increased number of dry days, affecting agricultural productivity.

Mr Ravindra K Agrawal, Promoter Chairman, KisanKraft said that there is a need to liberalize agriculture sector regulations to spur growth and increase farmer income.

Mr Yogesh Thorat, Managing Director, Maha Farmers Producers Company Ltd. (MAHAAFPC) highlighted that there is a need for strengthening FPOs through public-private partnerships (PPPs) to support value chains in agriculture.  

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