Boost crop productivity with new technologies: Amitabh Kant

India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant has stressed on the need to boost crop productivity through adoption of new cutting-edge technologies and said the farm sector should be made smart and adaptive to climate change. Kant said this at the G20 India Agri-tech Summit 2023 in New Delhi on Monday. The event saw participation from the agriculture industry, farmer associations and FPO, delegates from seven G20 nations, agri-tech startups, international delegates and investors.

He said that for higher economic growth of India, "India needs to grow in the agriculture sector. Its productivity must enhance rapidly. That would mean that we will require a lot of new cutting-edge technologies". Digitisation of agriculture, technological transformation and innovation in the farm sector has been the central priority pushed in the Indian presidency in the G2O this year, he said.

"Transforming the agriculture sector into a data-driven, smart and adaptive to climate change is integral to the transformation of the agriculture sector," Kant said, adding that this would entail focus on aspects like open access agricultural data platforms and recognising them as global public goods. He also emphasised on the need to co-opt startups and responsible investments from the private and public sectors for enhancing the welfare of farmers, especially small and marginal farmers, and stressed on ensuring that farmers adopt these technologies.

Agriculture working group had four priorities this year - food security and nutrition; sustainable agriculture with a climate smart approach; inclusive agri value chains and food systems; and digitisation for agricultural transformation, he informed. All these G20 priorities of India have been set up in the backdrop of addressing the global hunger and malnutrition for achieving SDG of zero hunger by leveraging technological advancement, Kant said, noting that technological advancement in agriculture is really the key. This would translate into providing farmers with real-time data and creating crop production forecast model. G20 members, being the major agricultural producers, consumers and exporters, have come together to take a collective responsibility towards transitioning to a sustainable and resilient agricultural food system. 

"Fundamentally, our ambition should be to transform agriculture, the agri-food sector into a very attractive and lucrative modern business enterprise. This needs to be done by keeping the farmers at the core of this digital revolution, by facilitating affordable access to an inclusive digital infrastructure and by exploring digital tools that cater to the needs of the agri sector," he added.