Q. Could you please shed some light on the solutions/services that you offer?
We supply hybrid seeds to farming community across the country. India is a vast country with different soil types, rainfall patterns, irrigation potentials, weather etc. We customise our products (hybrid seeds) that suit to different soils, weather etc. We have more than 25 maize hybrids catering to the needs of farmers from different states / locations. Like the hybrid which suits well in Karnataka doesn’t perform in Bihar. So we have different hybrids for Bihar which suit the conditions there. We also undertake educating farmers on successful crop production by conducting farmers melas, field visits, demonstrations etc. From Subsistence to Profit-making From Subsistence to Profit-making
Q. What you feel about the contribution of today’s youth when it comes to agriculture? How can they play a bigger role?
Today’s youth are not in favour of engaging in agriculture as it’s a thankless job and most farmers are also not happy because of many issues. Some of the issues are lack of remunerative prices, unpredictable monsoon and weather because of global warming, outbreak of new pests and diseases year after year, lack of support from governments in arranging crop insurance, non availability sufficient labour for farm operations due to Mahatma Gandhi National rural employment guarantee Act 2005 (MNREGA), high cost of fertilizers & pesticides, lack of proper storage facilities etc. More over nowadays youth are more interested in doing even a small job than engaging in farming.
Youth can think about new agriculture systems like terrace farming, greenhouse agriculture, ancillary activities like dairy, fisheries, poultry etc which are more profitable than traditional farming.
Q. What piece of message you would like to give anyone aiming for agri based entrepreneurship?
Work with farmers, understand their needs and customise your products to address their needs.
Q. How far is the MSP beneficial for a farmer?
Though minimum support price announced by successive governments is good these are never followed at the market place as the prices farmers get are determined by demand supply situation Middlemen get more profits than farmers in India now.
Agriculture markets must be opened to explore export possibilities where in farmers can get better prices depending on world markets. Farmers must be encouraged to cultivate those crops which get better profits to them based on world market prices.
