| India
is mainly an agrarian country. Almost two thirds of the country
population, nearly 62%, depends on agriculture to make a living.
The Green Revolution of the 1970s brought in improved farming
techniques, an extension of irrigation facilities, and high-yield
grains. Currently, about 43 % of India's area is used for
agricultural activity and accounts for 33% of the country’s
GDP.
Despite the shrinking share (23%)
of the agricultural sector in the economy, a majority of the
labour force (nearly 60%) continues to depend on agriculture.
One of the problems plaguing the Indian agricultural system
is the slow growth of technology in the Indian agricultural
sector. The following initiatives should be undertaken in
this sector.
Capacity building and strengthening of farmers and their
support systems
Increasing the importance of marketing in Indian agriculture
Enhancing the business skills of agricultural research institutions
Developing business development units/ groups as models
in potential institutions for business planning
Ensuring market development for commercialization of agro-technologies
The agriculture sector itself is
so huge that covering everything has to be an ongoing process.
Therefore, a portal is ideally suited for this purpose, as
it is a dynamic platform, which can be updated and added on
to, as and when required. Through this portal, TERI brings
in knowledge of crops that can be of good economic value to
farmers. Furthermore, in a small way, TERI would like to attempt
creating a backward and forward linkage of high-value crops.
Additions of these crops in the cropping pattern of the farmers
can result in generating positive economic returns. This knowledge
is already being imparted to local farmers through demonstrations
of herbal gardening at Supi in Uttarakhand.
The herbs and the crop section have been
specifically designed in Hindi for readability to
farmers.
Through this portal, TERI disseminates
information regarding organic farming, bio fertilizers, and
crop management. One of the chief features of this portal
is its association with other organizations and agriculture
institutes to address farmers’ queries within a specific
timeframe. The farmer can pose any query regarding crops,
seeds, soil, diseases, and pests, confident that it will be
responded to by a pool of agricultural professionals.
The portal also showcases herbal
and medicinal products produced by the local farmers from
Supi and surrounding villages.
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