Mangaluru: Dr. T N Prakash Kammardi, Chairman, Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission (KAPC), Bengaluru addressed the Sahyadri MBA students on new paradigms in agriculture.
He emphasised on the fact that not many post graduates would seek agriculture as a career avenue as there is huge demarcation between industry and agriculture. The major difference between agriculture and industry is based on the emphasis on land, labour, capital and organisation, he explained. He termed agriculture as the biological industry.
“The farmers are gambling with the monsoon and middle men. The need of the hour is to turn the young mind towards agriculture rather than industry only”, he said. He stressed on the ideas that would reduce the dependence on the nature. He was pointing towards borewells, construction of big dams and use of available natural resources. He also enlightened the crowd that the government was trying its best to encourage the agricultural sector.
Few of these are 100 percent government sponsored programmes that work towards the welfare of the community and creating strong knowledge in the subject area. Banks are offering loans on subsidised rates and role of APMC in distribution and marketing of agricultural products is streamlined, he said.
Kammardi emphasised on modernising the agriculture and its status based on the following steps:
• Contract farming
• Cooperatives
• Farmer producer companies
• Strengthening the collective bargaining capacity of farmers.
He concluded by stating that farmers should become price makers rather than price takers.
Tejaswini, wife of Dr. Prakash Kammardi also graced the occasion and answered many of the students’ queries related to floriculture and vertical farming.
