Need to boost crop productivity with new technologies: India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant
G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant on Monday 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 was speaking at the G20 India Agri-tech Summit 2023 held here.
For higher economic growth of India, he said, «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, the technological transformation and innovation in the farm sector has been the central priority pushed in the Indian presidency in the GCO this year, he added.
«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.
Kant 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.
He noted that technological advancement in agriculture is
