With the Indian population estimated to reach 1.5 billion by 2025, food security has proved to be a major challenge. Dilip Kumar Jha speaks to Nadir Godrej, chairman of Godrej Agrovet (GAVL), an agri and food company, which has ventured into providing solutions through conventional seeds and the introduction of genetically modified seeds. Edited excerpts:
With the total area under agriculture reducing by the day, there is a threat to food security. Do you attribute this to the rapidly growing industrialisation in the country?
Industrialisation is inevitable. Land, that is not suitable for agriculture, should be taken away for industrialisation. Industry can add far more value to the land than agriculture. But our focus should be to grow more agri products in whatever land is available. This can be achieved by increasing the yield of the existing crop.
Growing high-value crops like fruits and vegetables can, however, increase remuneration for the farmers if compared to revenue from foodgrain. Even if India needs to import cereals in the long run, it is better for the country to focus on high-value agri products.
But processing and handling of highly perishable vegetables and fruits have been a matter of concern.
Processing, transportation and warehousing is not happening the way it should be because of poor infrastructure. The basic reason for Indians to concentrate on fresh vegetables and fruits consumption is their availability round the year. Overseas where seasons are short, processing are all the more important. Even for consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, we require good cold chains to avoid wastage. The government has appreciably provided roads down to the villages to transport fresh fruits and vegetables to towns without too much of spoilage. I do not see any need to consume processed food if you have the luxury of having fresh food throughout the year.
Fruits like plums and apricots require a very quick delivery system to transport to consumption centres from remote growing areas. For this, we need basic infrastructure like good roads and cold chains for some products.
You are currently present in both backward and forward integrations. Are you looking at an opportunity in setting up cold storages and warehouses on your own?
We are not very actively looking at these, but we are always on the look out for partners who are planning cold chains. We do need cold chains for some of our products. We would be happy to partner with others.
Agriculture policy in India does not allow corporate farming on massive scale, which is driving away investments overseas in countries like Ethiopia. Do you consider this as a barrier for the growth in Indian agriculture?
Yes. We have, however, found it very easy to work with farmers. We had a very good experience working with oil palm farmers. We are getting oil palm yield comparable to the Malaysian average if not the best in Malaysia although conditions are not as good.
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Do you think the government should allow genetically modified (GM) seeds in commodities for human consumption ?
Yes. This is the right time for the government to take a bold decision to allow GM seeds all around to increase yield. But, not at the cost of safety issues. GM crops have been introduced in many advanced countries and have proven a great success. Also, there is a lot of scope for conventional breeding using genetic technology.
Is GAVL planning to introduce any improved variety of hybrid seeds, including GM?
We are not planning any GM seed launch. We find lot of scope for advanced conventional seeds. We have recently introduced maize seeds and are now working on rice, which will be ready in two or three years. Simultaneously, we are working on advanced conventional seeds in other cereals as well.
What are your future plans?
As farmers grow more, Godrej Agrovet plans to set up more palm oil mills and animal feed plants. We are also looking at procuring bird feed directly from farmers. We want to launch more products in the ready-to-eat sector. Some of these are in the pipeline and will be introduced soon.