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The Government can bring under productive agriculture over 13 million hectares of cultivable wasteland by roping in the private sector, according to S. Chandramohan, President and Group Chief Financial Officer, Tafe Ltd.
Apart from the 140 million hectare of arable land, India has about 13 million hectares of cultivable wasteland which can be exploited to increase agricultural production and rural employment.
The Government can generate interest among the private players through a long term lease based model and policy support in the form of investment credit, tax exemptions and permission for direct farm sourcing of wasteland.
Land could even be leased to companies apart from individual farmers with a strict condition on the usage of the waste lands, he said in his special address at AgriCon 2012, a conference on innovation in agriculture organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Other measures for more agriculture production include precision farming, which is optimising inputs to increase yields and profits while conserving the environment, should be the priority in horticulture, plantations and high value crops.
Increasing productivity through technology application and improved farming practices is the only option. Progressive Indian farmers can be given adequate support to catalyse the spread of such systems.
Small and marginal farmers, who need agriculture credit the most, have the lowest coverage within the farmer base. Innovation in outreach and risk management is essential to propel growth in rural credit, and consequently, catalyse the adoption of quality inputs in agriculture.
Agricultural produce marketing laws too need to be changed to enable large retailers to directly procure produce from farmers. A number of agri parks are needed through public-private partnership to encourage investments in storage infrastructure and forward marketing linkages.
Tamil Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah, said public-private partnerships are a viable approach for development and spread of innovation in agriculture, strengthen rural infrastructure and expand agri businesses.
A mission mode, national effort is needed to develop entrepreneurship in the agriculture. Promoting opportunities for the services sector will help grow agro processing, agro industries and businesses, he said.
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