Hyderabad, India
June 17, 2011
“An inclusive market-oriented development approach will revolutionize agriculture and ensure food and nutritional security and income security of the smallholder farmers and the poor in the developing world,” said Director General William Dar of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
Addressing the global summit on Green Revolution II – Growth Engine for Transformation, Dr Dar highlighted the need for an inclusive market-oriented development or IMOD to empower smallholder farmers in overcoming poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better and resilient farming, leading them to a dynamic state from subsistence to market-oriented agriculture.
He stressed that developing countries must give highest priority to agriculture, and increase public investment that will enable smallholder farming to achieve greater productivity and profitability. Dr Dar also underscored that India can become a global model in making smallholder agriculture as a nation’s engine to transformation.
Organized by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) with ICRISAT as its knowledge partner, the summit was held on 15 June at Hotel Taj Deccan in Hyderabad. The event brought together multi-sectoral stakeholders to deliberate on sharing scientific innovations and services to propel India’s agricultural growth.
“The Indian agricultural sector needs to be revamped to meet future demand and nutritional security of this huge population. A second Green Revolution with a focus on holistic development of the agriculture sector is imperative to support smallholder farmers in sustaining their livelihoods,” said MrDilip Modi, President of ASSOCHAM. He added that provision for end-to-end services, solutions to problems faced by farmers and providing linkages to markets are significant to facilitate access to better technology and other resources.
One of the highlights of the summit was the launch of the ASSOCHAM-ICRISAT study on Second Green Revolution: Role in Transforming Indian Agriculture. Based on the study, the next green revolution in India should be focused on a convergence strategy for the public and private sectors and civil society and research and educational institutions to devise a mechanism in sustaining enhanced productivity, providing opportunities for agricultural growth and boosting the economy.
Around 150 delegates participated in the conference, which included farmer entrepreneurs. The Agribusiness and Innovation Platform (AIP) also participated in the conference exhibition by showcasing successful cases of ICRISAT’s Public-Private-People Partnership (PPP) initiatives.
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