Agriculture PolicyBriefing

Lots of Innovation Happening in Agriculture, Farmers Need to Profit from Them: Shilpa Divekar Nirula

Shilpa Divekar Nirula, CEO India Region Monsanto. Photo by Vivian Fernandes
  • 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).

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