Gujarat to hold first ever Global Agriculture Summit next month
28 Aug 2013 10:52 PM GMT
The Gujarat Government is organising the Vibrant Gujarat Global Agriculture Summit to felicitate farmers from all over the country for their innovations. Envisioned as a ‘for the farmers, of the farmers, from the farmers’ interface, it is the first ever forum in India that has been created at this extent to recognise the contribution of farmers across the length and breadth of the country.
The two-day summit at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, which starts on 9 September, will provide a platform to more than 5000 farmers to get exposed to the latest technological advancement and best practices in agronomy. In Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s words, ‘Strengthening agriculture is the only way to improve our economy, empower our youth and bring prosperity to our villages. The need of the hour is to increase productivity and focus on value addition by assimilating the latest technologies and global best practices.’
The USA, Holland, Israel, Spain, Russia and Malaysia, some South American countries and a few from the the Caribbean islands will attend the meet to interact with professionals from agri-businesses, marketing & retail and agricultural scientists and researchers pushing for modernising agriculture. A gathering of 50,000-60,000 visitors is expected to attend the meet over two days.
Gujarat Principal Secretary (Agriculture) Raj Kumar, said that the summit aims to recognise Indian farmers’ contribution to the agro-economy of the country and also motivate them to continually add to India’s GDP.
Cultivators from within Gujarat and all over the country will showcase their innovative skills at the best practices pavilion at the event. In addition to boost the morale of the land tillers, the Gujarat Government will award one farmer from each district of India for their outstanding achievement.
In all, farmers from 671 districts across the country will be felicitated.A significant feature of the summit will be a Kisan Panchayat involving interactive sessions with farmers, sharing of farming techniques pertaining to particular areas, exchange of knowledge, field visits to Amul cooperative, Animal Hostels, Sardar Sarovar Dam etc and recognition of progressive farmers.
The event will host B2B and B2G meetings where policy makers, diplomats, academia, scientists, investors and technologists amongst others will deliberate on sharing of best practices and technologies, providing farmers with right linkages, building partnerships as well as brainstorming the challenges, opportunities and future road map in agriculture.
The summit will also host the Agritech Asia exhibition to showcase offerings in the fields of agri-ecology, agricultural equipment and machinery, agro and food processing, aquaculture, biotechnology, fertilizers, floriculture, greenhouse, horticulture, irrigation, water conservation technologies, livestock and dairy farming, marketing, export services, organic farming, plant protection, post harvest treatments, poultry and animal husbandry.
With eight agro-climatic zones; diversified multiple crops and cropping patterns; competitive position in production and productivity at national and international level for selected crops, Gujarat continues to make significant contribution to India’s growth story. Strategic location, state-of-the art infrastructure, business-friendly policies and proactive governance are the key catalytic strengths of the state.
The Gujarat Government has taken multiple initiatives for scientific water harvesting as a result of which 0.15 million check dams, 0.12 million bori-bandhs and 0.26 million farm ponds have been created in the state. Introducing the Micro Irrigation System (MIS) practice, 0.32 million hectares of cultivated land was covered and 0.2 million farmers benefitted during 2005-11 period.
The gross cropped area has increased from 10.8 million ha in 2000-01 to 14.5 million ha in 2010-11, showing an increase of 34 per cent in a decade.Groundnut production in the state has been the highest in the last five years. It was 15.91 lakh hectares till July 2013. India has emerged as one of the largest exporters of groundnut to the Middle-east as well as Europe. The Gujarat Government recently opened its first agro mall in Surat to give farmers a chance to directly interface with the consumer without any middlemen huddles.
There are 205 agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) and 400 market yards across the state besides 16,044 milk cooperative societies and 398 cold storage units with an installed capacity of 1.26 million tones. The state government has earned reputation far and wide with its flagship programme Krushi Mahotsav. As many as 6.5 lakh farmers in the state receive individual counseling by agricultural scientists and government personnel at the annual event. The aim is to convert wastelands under saline areas into cultivable patches through land improvement programme.
The two-day summit at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, which starts on 9 September, will provide a platform to more than 5000 farmers to get exposed to the latest technological advancement and best practices in agronomy. In Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s words, ‘Strengthening agriculture is the only way to improve our economy, empower our youth and bring prosperity to our villages. The need of the hour is to increase productivity and focus on value addition by assimilating the latest technologies and global best practices.’
The USA, Holland, Israel, Spain, Russia and Malaysia, some South American countries and a few from the the Caribbean islands will attend the meet to interact with professionals from agri-businesses, marketing & retail and agricultural scientists and researchers pushing for modernising agriculture. A gathering of 50,000-60,000 visitors is expected to attend the meet over two days.
Gujarat Principal Secretary (Agriculture) Raj Kumar, said that the summit aims to recognise Indian farmers’ contribution to the agro-economy of the country and also motivate them to continually add to India’s GDP.
Cultivators from within Gujarat and all over the country will showcase their innovative skills at the best practices pavilion at the event. In addition to boost the morale of the land tillers, the Gujarat Government will award one farmer from each district of India for their outstanding achievement.
In all, farmers from 671 districts across the country will be felicitated.A significant feature of the summit will be a Kisan Panchayat involving interactive sessions with farmers, sharing of farming techniques pertaining to particular areas, exchange of knowledge, field visits to Amul cooperative, Animal Hostels, Sardar Sarovar Dam etc and recognition of progressive farmers.
The event will host B2B and B2G meetings where policy makers, diplomats, academia, scientists, investors and technologists amongst others will deliberate on sharing of best practices and technologies, providing farmers with right linkages, building partnerships as well as brainstorming the challenges, opportunities and future road map in agriculture.
The summit will also host the Agritech Asia exhibition to showcase offerings in the fields of agri-ecology, agricultural equipment and machinery, agro and food processing, aquaculture, biotechnology, fertilizers, floriculture, greenhouse, horticulture, irrigation, water conservation technologies, livestock and dairy farming, marketing, export services, organic farming, plant protection, post harvest treatments, poultry and animal husbandry.
With eight agro-climatic zones; diversified multiple crops and cropping patterns; competitive position in production and productivity at national and international level for selected crops, Gujarat continues to make significant contribution to India’s growth story. Strategic location, state-of-the art infrastructure, business-friendly policies and proactive governance are the key catalytic strengths of the state.
The Gujarat Government has taken multiple initiatives for scientific water harvesting as a result of which 0.15 million check dams, 0.12 million bori-bandhs and 0.26 million farm ponds have been created in the state. Introducing the Micro Irrigation System (MIS) practice, 0.32 million hectares of cultivated land was covered and 0.2 million farmers benefitted during 2005-11 period.
The gross cropped area has increased from 10.8 million ha in 2000-01 to 14.5 million ha in 2010-11, showing an increase of 34 per cent in a decade.Groundnut production in the state has been the highest in the last five years. It was 15.91 lakh hectares till July 2013. India has emerged as one of the largest exporters of groundnut to the Middle-east as well as Europe. The Gujarat Government recently opened its first agro mall in Surat to give farmers a chance to directly interface with the consumer without any middlemen huddles.
There are 205 agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) and 400 market yards across the state besides 16,044 milk cooperative societies and 398 cold storage units with an installed capacity of 1.26 million tones. The state government has earned reputation far and wide with its flagship programme Krushi Mahotsav. As many as 6.5 lakh farmers in the state receive individual counseling by agricultural scientists and government personnel at the annual event. The aim is to convert wastelands under saline areas into cultivable patches through land improvement programme.
Next Story
