: Sector experts laid emphasis on creating awareness while applying risk-mitigating tools in farming practices.

Industry participant and agri technology major, Dhanuka Agritech CMD RG Agarwal said farmers are vulnerable to insect attacks and crops are susceptible to diseases.

“If they are not controlled, depending upon the situation and climatic condition, 8-90 per cent crop losses are possible if plant protection is not done properly.” To counter this risk, farmers need to be educated on the use of plant protection mechanisms.

“Unless technology and awareness are provided to farmers, the risk will continue,” said Agarwal, at a panel discussion on ‘‘How to risk-proof agriculture?’’ at the BusinessLine Agri Summit held here on Friday.

Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFYB) CEO clarified on the latest tweaks by the government to the ambitious and largest crop insurance scheme for farmers.

“There is no need to keep farmers caged by the government’s view on what is good for them. Farmers should be given the freedom to decide if they need the insurance or not.

So the scheme was made voluntary on requests from farmer associations and groups. In fact, their requests were pending with the government for a long time.”

However, while identifying drought as India’s biggest risk to agriculture, Bhutani stated that a greater challenge is to generate awareness among the stakeholders, especially the farmers. He admitted that in spite of the special efforts made by the government to increase the insurance coverage for the farmers, “one area where we need to work harder is awareness.”

Complex problem

On the risks associated with farming, Vijay Kumar, MD, National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), highlighted the risks on the profit side and how to protect the margins.

Himanshu Goyal, Sales and Alliances Leader, The Weather Company, an IBM Business, identified lack of modern technology, applications and a robust check on the weather technology as the complex problem in agriculture.

On the financial risk for farmers, Chief Business Officer (CBO), National Stock Exchange (NSE), Ravi Varanasi maintained that monetisation of produce that finally puts money in the hands of farmers is a critical risk. The panel discussion, which was moderated by Shishir Sinha, Senior Deputy Editor, BusinessLine outlined the measures to be taken to address the risks farmers are exposed to.

For risk coverage in areas like weather, Goyal said, “If farmer has to buy weather insurance kind-of-product, there will be a decimal kind of cost or no cost at all for corporate farming. We are seeing significant interest from FPOs. Advanced farmers are looking at leveraging to mitigate and experiment the technology.”

Vijay Kumar maintained that to instil confidence in farmers, the government first needs to be a participant in the institutions and schemes for the farmers.

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