03 July 2024, Raipur: The agriculture experts from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and agri-input company Dhanuka Agritech collaborated to deepen public-private partnership (PPP). To address the challenges faced by the farmers, a zonal workshop of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) was jointly organized by ICAR and Dhanuka Agritech at Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV), Raipur last Sunday.
“The Government is promoting public-private partnerships to address the challenges faced by the agriculture sector in a big way. Such collaborations help pool resources, expertise, and innovative solutions of government institutions and private players, and thus, may play a pivotal role in enhancing the reach and effectiveness of agricultural extension services,” said Dr. Girish Chandel, Vice-Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV).
The experts also batted for the adoption of advanced technologies to enhance agriculture production and increase farmers’ income across the country.
Delivering the keynote address, Dr. R. G. Agarwal, Chairman, Dhanuka Group during the workshop, “There is an urgent need for integrating advanced technologies such as IT, IoT, Precision Agriculture, and drones into Indian farming. This will play a pivotal role in boosting per-acre agriculture productivity, which is substantially lower in comparison to per-acre productivity in some of the developed and developing nations including China. The public-private partnerships in the field of agriculture will go a long way in bridging the gap and help in disseminating information around innovative technology effectively.”
Dr. Agarwal also stressed the necessity of shifting from flood irrigation to drip and sprinkler systems to conserve water and optimize its use, enabling farmers to achieve higher yields and underscored the need for competitive markets, warehousing, and cold storage facilities to help farmers secure better prices for their produce.
“One area which requires attention is to improve access to quality agri-inputs. A substantial chunk of critical agri-inputs available in the market including seeds, fertilizers and pesticides are of sub-standard quality. The counterfeit products significantly hamper farm productivity, and stringent measures against such elements are a must,” Dr. Agarwal said.
The primary objective of the day-long workshop was to disseminate the best available agricultural technologies to farmers, KVKs, and all relevant stakeholders. The workshop aimed to significantly boost the production, productivity, and agricultural income of more than 14 crore farmer families residing in about 6.5 lakh villages across the country.
The workshop was graced by esteemed scientists and authorities in the field of agriculture. Dr. Girish Chandel, Vice-Chancellor of IGKV graced the workshop as the Chief Guest. Dr. P.K. Ghosh, Director of NIBSM, was the Guest of Honor. Special Guests included Dr. K.H. Singh, Director of IISR; Dr. J.S. Mishra, Director of DWR; Dr. S.R.K. Singh, Director of ATARIs Zone-IX; Joint Director (Research) ICAR – NIBSM, Dr. Kalyan K. Mondal; Joint Director- NIBSM (School of Crop Health Management Research), Dr. Anil Dixit and Dr. P. K. Chakrabarty, Former Member, ASRB, ICAR. Scientists from all 81 KVKs of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh also attended the workshop.
Dhanuka Agritech has signed an umbrella Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ICAR earlier this year. The MoU would enable leveraging the resources and expertise of ICAR and Dhanuka to jointly work towards strengthening agriculture extension and research activities. This partnership is aimed at making Indian Agriculture more vibrant through joint dissemination of advanced agricultural technologies through demonstrations and training programs.
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