21st Century is the century of Technology – HE Solanki
North Indian States need to implement latest technologies to sustain in Agriculture – HE Solanki
CII Agro Tech 2014 concludes with resounding success as a big hit amongst the farmers yet again
More than 40,000 farmers from both domestic and international arena visit CII Agro Tech 2014
NewZNew (Feature) : While thanking and congratulating Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for organising a tremendously successful CII Agro Tech 2014 showcasing the latest technologies from India and abroad to the farmers at a single platform, HE Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki, Governor of Haryana called for a need “to create an eco system where all these innovations and latest technologies in the field of agriculture from farm mechanisation to food processing are implemented immediately without any further delay”.
“21st century being the century of technologies and innovations, fairs like CII Agro Tech act as an enabling catalyst to make Indian farming globally competitive, much in sync with PM Modi’s objective of Digital India & Digital Village campaign”, he added while addressing amass gathering at the valedictory session of CII Agro Tech 2014 organized by CII in partnership with Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India and Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, here at Chandigarh.
“After green revolution, now it’s a time for Tech Revolution. I would call upon the industry and domestic experts to work with us with the aim to make affordable latest farm machinery available to the farmers. The imported farm equipments are relatively costlier. We should rather import technologies from developed countries like Israel, Canada and France etc and manufacture the Agri machines and equipments in India only at reasonable prices, to make them affordable to farmers and bring about the much needed Technology – revolution in agriculture”.
“It is imperative that all key stakeholders including the state & central governments, scientists, farmers, Agri Universities, industry, institutes and agri experts come together at single platform and cull out ways to enhance productivity and elevate the conditions of the Indian farmers, especially in north India, lest they should not be able to sustain themselves in near future, considering the depleting water table, ever decreasing soil fertility, lack of human resources and mechanisation ”, he further emphasised.
Mr Suresh Kumar, Financial Commissioner – Development, Government of Punjab said, on behalf of the Agriculture Ministry of Government of Punjab shared that “ Punjab government would be very keen to implement the recommendations from CII, that would have evolved out of the brainstorming sessions held during the last four days of CII Agro Tech 2014 to benefit the farmers”.
Mr Kumar added that “Today, there is an urgent need to bridge the gap between the agriculture sector and the industry. There is a need for greater cooperation between all the stakeholders to bring prosperity across the paradigm and enable greatest good for everyone”.
He called upon the industry to take initiative and dole out the farmers from their miserable state and help them get their due by making them a partner in their commercial activities and agro-processing sector.
“This region has a major role to play in making the nation self sufficient, but in the process of making India self-sufficient, the region’s soil has bled itself of its nutrients in besides badly depleted ground water, hence there is a need for the industry to come out with customized products and solutions for farmers from different areas as per their soil and climate conditions and adopt crop diversification”, he reiterated.
Dr Pawan Goenka, Chairman, CII Agro Tech 2014 & Executive Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd shared that “The 4-day CII Agro Tech was visited by over 75,000 visitors including 40,000 farmers. As always, farmers were at the core of CII Agro Tech 2014 and we were honoured to host farmer delegations from all across the regions who visited the fair and collected information as per their requirements. The visiting farmers included women farmers from 17 states – Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. Besides, international visitors/delegations from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ghana, Israel, Japan, Mali, New Zealand, Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka, The Netherlands, The Gambia and USA were also present. I am truly overwhelmed by the success of the five International Conferences which were addressed by 103 experts and attended by 547 delegates. Over 7,500 business enquiries were generated and as per our preliminary estimates, the value of these enquires is worth Rs 76 crores, if translated into actual business. In addition, about 105 new products were launched at the CII Agro Tech 2014.
“Globally, we had participation from 10 countries – Canada, Italy, Israel, Germany, Spain, France, Poland, South Africa, The Netherlands and Russia. South Africa participated for the first time”, he added.
Speaking about the exhibitors’ response, Dr Goenka added that “96% rated the exhibition as meaningful and would like to participate in the next edition of the CII Agro Tech as well. 93% of the exhibitors have indicated that their objective of participation has been achieved”.
About the farmers and visitors’ response, he shared that “91% of the visitors have indicated that they would like to visit the next edition of the CII Agro Tech, 95% rated the exhibition and display of products as excellent and that their objective of visit was achieved”.
Summing up the International Conferences, Mr Rajesh Srivastava, Co-Chairman – Conferences, Agro Tech 2014 & Chairman & Managing Director, Rabo Equity Advisors shared that “We had successful conferences addressed by about 103 experts from government, industry, research organizations and academia. Experts from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Germany, USA, The Netherlands, New Zealand etc also addressed the Conferences. Over 547 delegates from Agro based industry, government, academic institutions, and progressive farmers participated in these conferences on aspects like Horticulture Value Chain, Animal Husbandry, Innovations in Agriculture, World View of India as a Food Basket, Food Processing, Storage & Distribution etc.
Mr Zubin Irani, Chairman, CII Northern Region & President – Building & Industrial Systems (India), United Technologies Corporation India Pvt Ltd highlighted that “CII Agro Tech 2014 achieved one of its primary objectives of understanding global benchmarks for agriculture and bringing farmers face-to-face with the latest state-of-the-art technologies both in terms of machinery as well as agri-best practices. It empowered them to look at the possibilities of moving up the value chain and ensure their long term prosperity. The response received from the farming community was terrific. Kisan Goshthees, where 56 subject experts interacted with thousands of farmers on latest tools and techniques in the field of agriculture including solar energy, Air-Soil-Water Management, Fish Farming; Precision Farming; Climate Change; Organic Farming; Agro Processing; Agri Marketing; Crop Diversification; Farm Mechanization; Dairy Farming; Livestock Management etc. I must say, were a great hit.” I am very excited with the success of CII Agro Tech and we promise to make the next edition even better.
After the resounding success of CII Agro Tech 2014, the dates for the 12th CII Agro Tech have been announced, which is 19-22 November, 2016.
The Awards for Best Display at the CII Agro Tech 2014 were also distributed by H. E. Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki.