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Sustainable agricultural growth and food security lie in the hands of small and marginal farmers, who hold 80 per cent of country’s farms, Vice-Chancellor of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agriculture University A. Padma Raju said.
Delivering the Acharya N.G Ranga Memorial Lecture in Andhra University, he said that of the 121 million agricultural holdings, 99 million are with the small and marginal farmers though their share of land is only 44 per cent. Multiple cropping index was higher for these farmers compared to the larger farmers and around 70 per cent of vegetables, 55 per cent of fruits, 52 per cent of cereal and 69 per cent of milk production come from small holdings, contributing to the both diversification and food security, Padma Raju said. He spoke about the challenges being faced by these farmers like poor market leading to smaller value realisation; little or no access to credit facility; poor access to extension services or facilities like public irrigation, electricity. Woman farmers, who constitute 83 per cent of rural agriculture workforce and 38.7 per cent of marginal farmers, were not being recognised.
He said, “However, there are many technological and institutional innovations which the small and marginal farmers could depend on to maximise their productivity in an efficient manner through sustainable high value agriculture.”
The Vice-Chancellor also explained the support being given by his university to farmers in various areas.
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