Public Private Partnership Essential to Address Challenges Faced by the Agricultural Sector: Experts

The agriculture experts from Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and leading agri-input companies collaborated to deepen public-private partnership to address the challenges faced by the farmers while addressing a KVK workshop jointly organized by ICAR and Dhanuka Agritech at IGKV, Raipur on Sunday.

“The Government is promoting public-private partnerships for addressing the challenges faced by the agriculture sector in a big way. Such collaborations help pool resources, expertise, and innovative solutions of government institutions and private players, and thus, may play a pivotal role in enhancing the reach and effectiveness of agricultural extension services,” said Dr. Girish Chandel, Vice-Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV).

The experts also batted for the adoption of advanced technologies to enhance agriculture production and increase farmers’ income across the country.

Delivering the key note address, Dr. R. G. Agarwal, Chairman, Dhanuka Group during the workshop, “There is an urgent need for integrating advanced technologies such as IT, IoT, Precision Agriculture, and drones into Indian farming. This will play a pivotal role in boosting per acre agriculture productivity, which is substantially lower in comparison to per acre productivity in some of the developed and developing nations including China. The public-private partnerships in the field of agriculture will go a long way in bridging the gap and help in disseminating information around innovative technology effectively.”

Dr. Agarwal also stressed the necessity of shifting from flood irrigation to drip and sprinkler systems to conserve water and optimize its use, enabling farmers to achieve higher yields and underscored the need for competitive markets, warehousing, and cold storage facilities to help farmers’ secure better prices for their produce.

“One area which requires attention is to improve access to quality agri-inputs. A substantial chunk of critical agri-inputs available in the market including seeds, fertilizers and pesticide are of sub-standard quality. The counterfeit products significantly hamper farm productivity, and stringent measures against such elements are a must,” Dr. Agarwal said.

The primary objective of the day-long workshop is to disseminate the best available agricultural technologies to farmers, KVKs, and all relevant stakeholders. The aim of the workshop is to significantly boost the production, productivity, and agricultural income of more than 14 crore farmer families residing in about 6.5 lakh villages across the country.

The workshop was graced by esteemed scientists and authorities in the field of agriculture. Dr. Girish Chandel, Vice-Chancellor of IGKV graced the workshop as the Chief Guest. Dr. P.K. Ghosh, Director of NIBSM, was the Guest of Honor. Special Guests included Dr. K.H. Singh, Director of IISR; Dr. J.S. Mishra, Director of DWR; Dr. S.R.K. Singh, Director of ATARIs Zone-IX; Joint Director (Research) ICAR – NIBSM, Dr. Kalyan K. Mondal; Joint DirectorNIBSM (School of Crop Health Management Research), Dr. Anil Dixit and Dr. P. K. Chakrabarty, Former Member, ASRB, ICAR. Scientists from all 81 KVKs of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh also attended the workshop.

It is pertinent to mention here that Dhanuka Agritech has signed an umbrella Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ICAR earlier this year. The MoU would enable leveraging the resources and expertise of ICAR and Dhanuka to jointly work towards strengthening agriculture extension and research activities. This partnership is aimed at making the Indian Agriculture more vibrant through joint dissemination of advanced agricultural technologies through demonstrations, and training programs.

Dhanuka Group also has collaborations with six Japanese companies, empowering it to introduce the latest technologies to combat exotic pests. The company’s research facility, DART, located in Palwal (Haryana) offers a free helpline for farmers, assisting them with queries and providing support. The company is at the forefront of introducing drones and precision farming techniques, which are critical in modern agriculture.