MoS Agri pitches for adoption of new farm tech for achieving $5 trn economy

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 USD 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 USD 5 trillion economy," the minister said while addressing an event organised by agro-chemical firm Dhanuka Group.

Choudhary 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.

"The population in Europe is anyways not increasing, so they have the option, but do we have option? So, we need to decide which side of divide we want to be!

Pental, favouring the use of agro-chemicals, said that high-quality agro-chemicals are essential to reduce the damage to crops.

Dhanuka Group Chairman R G Agarwal said, "The government's forward looking policies towards new technologies and swift approvals for agriculture sector, clearance to drone guidelines being an example, are paving the way for Indian being food bowl for the world by 2047.