Noted farm scientist M.S. Swaminathan has favoured 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail, but wanted some caveats such as increased sourcing of farm produces locally by the retailers.
He wanted states to devise their own safeguards while allowing FDI in retail to protect the interests of their farmers.
“The Indian agriculture sector is crying for investment. Any investment from home or abroad is welcome. It all depends on how you administer the investments,’’ he told media persons on the sidelines of the 40th anniversary celebrations of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
In response to a question, Swaminathan said the FDI in retail could help solve problems in post-harvest production such as storage, transportation and marketing of the produce.
“There has been a mis-match in production and post-harvest technology — while the former saw significant investments, the latter did not such funding. Today, post-harvest losses are as much as 25-30 per cent of production. It is a national lapse of priority,’’ he pointed out.
He hoped that the Food Security Bill would address these issues.
Farm mechanisation
Swaminathan said India needed a bigger dose of farm mechanisation. This decade will see the transformation of Indian agriculture from the perspective of farm mechanisation, he said.
ICRISAT is a non-profit organisation that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It is headquartered in Hyderabad with two regional hubs and five country offices in sub-Saharan Africa.