FPO’S TO REVOLUTIONIZE AGRI IN INDIA AND MILLETS GOING GLOBAL
~ Dr Vijaya Lakshmi, Joint Secretary, Dept of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt of India
Technology can help farmers in key high impact areas across pre and post harvest
~ Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana, VP Public Affairs Communications and Sustainability, Coca-Cola India Pvt Ltd
Agriculture is witnessing the penetration of Technology and AI
~ Sanjiv Kanwar, Country Manager, Yara India
New Delhi, 13 April 2023: The CII Agri Tech Conference, held today, saw experts in the agriculture industry come together to discuss the latest trends and innovations in the field. Dr. Vijay Lakshmi Nandenla, Joint Secretary of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, spoke about how FPO’s will revolutionize agriculture in India and how millets are going global. He emphasized the complexity of the agriculture sector and how India has become a self-sufficient country. He also highlighted the importance of food security and nutrition security, and how soil health can be improved through various mechanisms.
Ms. Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana, Conference Chair and VP Public Affairs Communications and Sustainability, Coca-Cola India Pvt Ltd, welcomed attendees and emphasized how technology can revolutionize the food and agriculture sector. She discussed how leveraging technology in agriculture can help farmers solve ongoing problems and learn about new technologies that will help automate their farms. She also shared her opinion that AI is going to be the next big thing in agriculture.
Mr. Sanjiv Kanwar, Conference Co-Chair and Country Manager, Yara India, spoke about how agriculture is witnessing the penetration of technology and AI. He discussed how agri-tech has brought about improved efficiencies, connectivity, knowledge sharing, and various pivotal and supporting activities accessible at the click of a button. He also stressed the importance of giving thrust to the complete value chain.
Mr. Munish Soni, Head of Business Strategy, Bayer Crop Science, emphasized how the digital dimension is influencing farmers and making the agri sector more effective. He discussed the importance of human and financial investment at this stage and emphasized solutions that should be more geographical oriented.
Mr. Unuponm Kausik, Business Head and Sr. VP, Olam Agri India Pvt Ltd, spoke about the need to focus on issues pertaining to seeds. He emphasized how leveraging technology should be for last mile connectivity and opined that there should be a concrete policy for the seeds and technology.
Mr. Devinder Singh Chawla, Partner and Consulting Leader- Chemical & Agri, Ernst & Young LLP, presented the theme introduction and discussed the need to focus on the transformation of agri ecosystems. He emphasized how supply chain, weather data, and market linkages are of paramount importance in the agri sector. He also stressed the importance of timely inputs and agri inputs being available.
The conference was attended by over 150 delegates across the agri sectors and featured speakers from Dhanuka Group, Savannah Seeds, Skymet Weather Services, Cargill India, Acsen Hyveg, and others.
