- I see challenges on the demand and supply side, but also tremendous potential for India to be a food exporting country, since it has the second largest share of arable land in the world (after the United States).
- There is a lot of innovation happening on the supply side; farmers are embracing technology.
- There is scope to improve productivity across crops. We need to extend irrigation and crop insurance to protect farmers against weather risks.
- But what happens when output increases? How do we ensure that a greater share of income generated by agriculture reaches farmers? For instance, tomatoes are selling for Rs 100 a kg now but tomato acreages are under pressure this kharif.
- Seventy percent of Indian agriculture is in the kharif season.
- We need to work together; we need partnerships and collaboration between producers and buyers.
(Top photo of Shilpa Divekar Nirula at the Ficci seminar by Vivian Fernandes).