MoS Agri pitches for adopting new farm techs to achieve $5 tn economy

New Delhi: Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary on Friday said mass adoption of new technologies like drones, artificial intelligence (AI) and precision farming in the agriculture sector is essential for India to achieve $5 trillion economy milestone.

“... we need to leverage new technologies, such as drones, AI, precision farming, blockchain in farming to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s near future target of $5 trillion economy,” the minister said while addressing an event organised by agro-chemical firm Dhanuka Group.

He also urged scientists to identify untapped areas, such as rain-fed districts to increase agriculture production substantially by empowering farmers with new agri technologies.

“The potential of most of the agri-land in the country has been exhausted, only the area dependant on rains is left whose potential needs to be tapped,” he said in a statement.

Making a strong pitch for genetically modified (GM) crops, Deepak Pental, former Vice Chancellor, University of Delhi said, “The USA has increased agriculture production by 35 per cent by introducing GM crops long back, whereas Europe just managed 6-7 per cent.