The Hindu Business Line : `Include small farmers in contract farming'

ENGAGING ISSUES: The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr Sharad Pawar, with the Union Agriculture Secretary, Dr P.K. Mishra, at the inaugural session of the ICAR-USDA workshop on "Contract Farming: Methods and Experiences" in the Capital on Saturday. — Kamal Narang

New Delhi May 5 The Union Food and Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, on Saturday expressed concern over the growing trend small farmers being excluded from contract farming, saying it could adversely impact food security.

The Minister was inaugurating a workshop of the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture in the Capital on Saturday.

Urging the participants to develop models of contract farming that are relevant to Indian realities, Mr Pawar said that case studies of some successful models indicated that contract farming, if well managed, benefited farmers in terms of providing assured market, reducing marketing and transportation costs, providing access to improved technology, and sharing of production and price risks.

Access ease

According to the Minister, globalisation had offered an opportunity to access the world market and the enormous untapped opportunities in the Indian agribusiness sector have been realised by a number of business houses, both within the country and abroad.

The Government's main concern was, however, to ensure that the benefits of these emerging opportunities reach the producers, especially the smallholders, said the Minister. He suggested that agribusiness firms integrate farmers in their supply chains through institutions such as cooperatives, producers' associations and contract farming.

"We are encouraging farmers to form grass-root level associations, informal cooperatives owned and managed by farmers themselves, or producer companies," said Mr Pawar.

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