Digitalisation, Aggregation, FPOs have the power of taking modern agri-technologies right to the doorsteps of farmers – ITC Chairman, Sanjiv Puri

By 2050 given the population growth and better consumption patterns, India will need 60% more food. There is also a movement towards healthier and nutritious food products that gives the opportunity for value addition.

Chandigarh: “There are multiple opportunities in Indian agriculture today to achieve sustainable growth and productivity, given the grit and determination of Indian farmers and a proactive Government,” said ITC Chairman Sanjiv Puri

Speaking at the CII Agro Tech Summit 2022 today at Chandigarh, Puri said, “Agriculture is the lifeline of the economy and roughly half of India’s workforce is engaged in this sector. However, its contribution to the GVA is only about 18% with challenges such as low productivity and wastages, which translates to lower farm incomes. Puri is also the Chairman of the CII AgroTech India 2022.

The Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurated the event.

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On challenges to the sector and the impact of Climate Change, Puri said, “Today the sector is faced with a challenge of epic proportions and it’s not unique to this sector or to India. Last year many countries experienced events that dramatically reduced crop production. This year is no different – we have challenges in Europe, China and the US and recently in Indonesia. We have a neighbor whose agriculture sector has been devastated.”

“India has its own share of problems – first with wheat and now with rice. Although there is great commitment towards net zero by countries and corporates, the reality is that extreme weather events will only multiply as articulated by the IPCC report,” he added.

On the solutions to tackle these challenges Puri said, “Given the grit and determination of the farming community of India and proactive government policy interventions, I see no reason why we cannot overcome and convert these challenges into an opportunity. By 2050 the world will need a lot more food than we produce today. Harvard Business Review estimates that food production must go up by 58 to 98% by 2050.”

Elaborating on the opportunities for agriculture he said, “By 2050 given the population growth and better consumption patterns, India will need 60% more food. There is also a movement towards healthier and nutritious food products that gives the opportunity for value addition. Agriculture being a provider of bio-diesel which tackles climate change – is another opportunity in India. India has the largest arable land in the world and there is a huge opportunity to multiply and grow our productivity levels. We are self-sufficient today and we also have the distinction of having exported agri products worth 50 billion USD but I think we can do much more.”

On the pathways that Indian agriculture can traverse towards sustainable growth and productivity Puri said, “There are some important pathways available to us to surmount the challenges. One is the power of FPOs and the power of Aggregation. The Government of India has taken very far sighted steps to promote FPOs with multi-dimensional schemes to support capacity building and value addition. This is the pivot that will transform Indian agriculture.”

He elaborated on the pathways and said, “The second pathway that we need to follow is digitization, the power of digital. The Honourable Prime Minister’s far sighted Vision of Digital India many years back is indeed inspiring. Allow me to take the liberty in sharing our own example – we work with 27 Aspirational Districts to empower farmers. During the first pandemic induced lockdown, we transitioned overnight the entire training module to the digital medium. It involved a huge number of 4 lakh farmers who were engaged and it is amazing that the milestone of 60% improvement in productivity in the subsequent crop was achieved. This shows that India’s farming community is ready to adopt digital technologies. India’s research institutes have been doing a great job and now the next generation of research needs to be more focused on climate resilience.”

On demonstrated solutions in the sector Puri said, “The agri tech ecosystem is playing its role as well. In 2013 India had 43 startups and I am told, till now this number has increased to 1500. There are pilots that I am aware of and those in which we have participated in – in one season itself we have seen productivity rising by 15-20% and farmers income going up by as much as 30%. I think with digitization and aggregation of farmers through FPOs we have a pathway to take the benefits of modern practices of technology right to the doorstep of the farmers.”

On CII’s role in transforming agriculture Puri said, “CII is deeply committed to playing a significant role in this very critical sector. In CII, we have established the Food and Agricultural Centre of Excellence. It seeks to bring the power of Innovation and Technology to the farmers and links farmers to value chain players. It builds a comprehensive tool kit to empower and build a capacity for FPO’s. CII has a vibrant ecosystem of startups that connects farmers with financers providing incubation services.”

On the CII Agro Tech 2022 summit he said, “The summit really reflects one important intervention in our journey to make a meaningful contribution to transforming Indian agriculture from more of a production centric system to a demand responsive system with use of modern technology and best practices. In fact, pilots have also shown that implementation of sustainable agriculture has not only improved resilience of agriculture catchments but also demonstrated farmer incomes going up from 40% to 90% and GHG emissions reducing by as much as 46%. Pathways are clearly available and we at CII are committed to making a contribution to this very important sector and that is where this summit plays a pivotal role. On this platform we have all the stakeholders coming together – agri tech businesses, value chain players and farmers. So it is an opportunity for all stake holders to interact and articulate solutions to transform Indian agriculture.”