The two-day conference on ‘Models for Agricultural Development: Experiences of Farmer Producer Companies’, has called for sustained efforts to strengthen, streamline, support and coordinate Farmer Producer Organisations.

The conference, jointly organised by the Department of Agricultural Economics, Kerala Agriculture University and Indian Society of Agricultural Economics (ISAE), mooted a national level consortium to help the FPCs realise their goals and lead the efforts to enhance farmers’ income.

Noted agricultural economist and former director, National Agricultural Innovation Project Mruthyunjaya said that disruptive technologies have to be used to drive growth in agriculture. He stressed the need for more studies on FPCs to reduce the knowledge gap as well as cause, consolidate and extend new gains.

KAU Vice-Chancellor R Chandra Babu said that the formulation of policy recommendations to strengthen FPO network and promoting a vision plan to enhance farmer’s income have become imperative. Small and marginal holdings make adoption of technologies difficult. FPCs will enable small farmers overcome such constraints through optimising resources.

Former TNAU Vice-Chancellor and ISAE President C Ramasawamy said that guaranteed income support to farmers is a must to sustain agriculture. Many rural economies are stable because they have an inherent inclusive strategy involving cattle rearing and milk production. Public sector research in Agriculture should be able to make breakthrough technologies for the future, which depends on Artificial Intelligence, Gene Mapping etc.

P Ramasundaram, National Coordinator, National Agricultural Higher Education Project pointed out that the current stress in Indian agriculture is not caused by famine or low production, but by abundance of produce.

According to Deevendra Kumar Singh, Agricultural Production Commissioner, FPOs will help authenticity and traceability of products, which will earn and enhance consumer trust.

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