Time to look at Indian economy via agriculture

Unlike other sectors that are weighed down by the COVID-19 pandemic, the agriculture sector has literally become the nerve centre for economic growth.

This has been confirmed by key people – right from Reserve Bank of India, governor, Shaktikanta Das to Niti Aayog, CEO, Amitabh Kant.

However, it is time that agriculture gets more support to grow more vibrant. In order to find ways to improve the sector, SIES and Free Press Journal (FPJ) in association with NSE, the Netherlands-headquartered East West Seeds and NCDEX are organising a webinar series on the ‘Future of Agriculture’.

The first webinar of the series ‘Why agriculture matters for India’ will be held on July 16 at 4.15 pm, which is Thursday.

The session, which will be moderated by RN

Bhaskar, Consulting Editor, The Free Press Journal, will have names like Arun Raste, Executive Director, NDDB; Dilip Rajan, MD, East-West Seeds India; and Simon Thorsten Wiebusch, COO, Crop Science Division of Bayer for India.

With the arrival of south-west monsoon on time for this cropping season the crops are expected to witness an increase in production. According to DBS Group Research, better farm output is seen as a silver lining this year.

“South-west monsoons have arrived on time, with rainfall at 11 per cent above the long-period average, skewed towards central and north-west regions with heavier rainfall. This allowed sowing for the summer (kharif) crop to increase by 88%, led by higher oilseeds, cotton, pulses and coarse cereals.”