“Market-oriented vegetable farming not only creates income for smallholder farmers but also helps to build their resilience to external risks. The sheer diversity of vegetable crops, short growing cycles, and efficient use of irrigation can reduce farmers’ vulnerability to climate change,” said Dilip Rajan, Managing Director, East-West Seed India. He was speaking at the Webinar titled Approaches and Strategies to support vegetable farming post-COVID-19 co-hosted by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) on Friday.
The Webinar was moderated by Ram Kaundinya, the Director-General, Federation of Seed Industry of India. Dr. Ashok Dalwai, IAS, Chief Executive Officer, NRAA, Ministry of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Dr. M R Dinesh, Director Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, R N Bhasker, Consulting Editor, Free Press Journal and Dr.Surinder Tikoo, Partner and Director of Research at Tierra Seed Science participated as panelists in the session. Nearly 500 participants connected with agri-industry from across the country participated actively in the Webinar.
Speaking on the Post-Covid-19- approach and strategies, Dilip said, “ I think that smallholder farmers will need support to not only enhance their productivity but also to market the food they produce…and we will need to exploit all levers to achieve this objective. We also need to change the narrative from just “food security” to more of a “nutrition security” and from just “farm productivity” to “raising farmer’s income”- this is where vegetables play a crucial role and must not become the forgotten crop it has become. Concentrated and coordinated efforts must be undertaken to promote vegetable farming- for the marginal farmers, the migrant workers, and youth as an economically viable profession. High-quality vegetable seeds combined with Knowledge Transfer must be provided to the smallholder farmers urgently.”
Technology will disrupt Agri value chains, drive higher productivity, and create new channels to market, and there will be a greater willingness to engage digital technology added Dilip. “The pandemic has shown the immense value of digital tools and agriculture cannot be left behind- systematic application of digital tools will support sustainable production & timely supply, especially when food production and supply involves millions of smallholder farmers,” he said.