Foreign direct investment in retail will not help farmers until APMC (Agricultural Produce Marketing Regulation) Act is reformed. “As long as you do not do that, farmers will not be able to get benefits from FDI in retail. You need to have competition in the market place. As of now, there is only mechanism where farmers can sell their produce,” S. Sivakumar, Chief Executive Officer of Agri Business Division of ITC, has said.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of Food 360 conference organised by FICCI here on Monday, he said competition would improve efficiencies in the supply chain and help farmers get more income. “Till such time we carry out market reforms, it is only consumers in urban areas who will benefit from investment flows in the retail sector,” Sivakumar, who is also the Programme Chair of Food 360.

On the prospects for contract farming in the wake of FDI in retail, he said it was not a solution for all crops. “One should produce as required and one should not grow depending on the last year’s prices,” he said.

With regard to processing, he said there was need for improved technologies. “It is not viable to set up processing unit for a particular produce. We should evolve methods that ensure major part of processing of several farm crops. You can have additional investment to take care of crop-specific processing,” he said.

The second edition of the two-day Food 360 conference will focus on productivity and reducing costs in farming sector.

J.A. Chowdary, the Conference Chair, said FICCI would hold this conference annually to provide a platform to various stakeholders. Andhra Pradesh Governor E. S.L. Narasimhan inaugurated the meet.

kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in

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