New Delhi (NVI): India’s farm sector growth for the current fiscal is expected to remain higher at 3.1 per cent compared to 2.9 per cent of the last year, a NITI Aayog official said here today.
While addressing a gathering after the inaugurating of the second national conference on food value chain partnerships at ASSOCHAM, NITI Aayog Member Ramesh Chand, said that the private sector has to play a big role in the Indian agriculture sector.
“I feel today we need more competition in agriculture, more investment and the face of agriculture from traditional to modern and movement of agriculture from present stage to higher evolution will not happen without active involvement of private sector,” he said.
“Unless we increase corporate sectors investment and involve them from seed and continuing it up to sale, it would be difficult to cause a breakthrough in growth of agriculture and doubling farmers income,” he added.
He also informed that NITI Aayog was trying to convince the central government to make up its mind in terms of Model Land Lease Act prepared.
Commenting on the APMC Act and Agriculture Produce Contract Farming Act, he said that “I think we need to persuade the states, we are already trying to do it that those two acts are adopted by the states.”
Stating that there is a big knowledge gap in the area of food value chain, he said that without bringing agriculture into picture and value chain kind of things, it will be very difficult to create more jobs in future.
“Agriculture is coming back into the development agenda. Food value chain is one very-very important element for economic development of emerging economies,” he added.
