The Maharashtra Government plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore in the agriculture sector this fiscal.
Dr Sudhir Kumar Goel, Principal Secretary – Agriculture and Marketing (Additional Charge) Marketing Cooperation, Maharashtra Government, invited the private sector to take advantage of this investment by joining hands with the Government to improve farm productivity.
Speaking at AgriVision 2020 seminar organised by Confederation of Indian Industries, said the corporate houses can aggregate a few farmers in a particular district and come up with a blueprint of their proposal to be part of the Government investment.
The sanctioned amount will, however, be credited to the farmers account directly and the corporate can oversee the implementation of the project and sell their products simultaneously, he said.
“You name a crop and we have a scheme to promote its productivity. Corporates always complain that the Government is not doing much to help farmers. Now here is an open offer for those who feel we are not doing much,” said Mr Goel.
Listing out the number of projects for which funds have been tied-up, he said the Asian Development Bank has recently approved an investment of Rs 1,000 crore in agriculture sector in next five year. The Maharashtra Government plans to invest Rs 700 crore to improve competitiveness in the agriculture. Investment of Rs 500 crore is proposed to improve farm infrastructure under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana Rashtriya.
Modern terminals markets are being developed in Mumbai, Nashik and Nagpur with an investment of Rs 350 crore, while the International Fund for Agricultural Development will pump in Rs 600 crore in the state-sponsored “Convergence of Agriculture Intervention in Maharashtra.”
“No corporates till date has attempted to tap the potential of end-to-end value chain through convergence of all the Government interventions, said Mr Goel.
Speaking at the event Mr Ramrao Sahebrao Shinde, a farmer growing cotton on 21 acres, said sudden changes in the Government policies have impacted their earnings.
“In last few days cotton prices have crashed by at least 20 per cent after the Government decided to ban cotton exports. How can we prepare for this kind of policy shocks,” he questioned.