Theme: Agriculture | Precision farming and AI revolutionise food production systems

In this State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Prabhudatta Mishra talks to Ashok Kumar Singh, former Director of Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, about the unique perspectives on India’s agricultural landscape and the challenges ahead as the nation aims to achieve food grain self-sufficiency by 2047.   Singh delves into cutting-edge solutions, including climate-resilient crop varieties, biofortified foods, and advancements in smart agriculture technologies like AI, IoT-based irrigation, and precision farming.   The podcast also discusses critical topics such as the role of public-private partnerships in driving agricultural innovation, genome editing as a non-GM alternative to enhance crop productivity, and the need for a centralised agricultural knowledge management system to empower farmers. The conversation goes on to discuss the agricultural challenges and technological solutions for small and marginal farmers are explored in depth. A significant concern is the economic viability of adopting advanced agricultural technologies for farmers with small landholdings.   Singh illustrates how technologies like drones can be highly efficient for targeted pest control, reducing costs and pesticide residues. He explains that even small-scale farmers can benefit from such advancements through collaborative systems like Farmers' Producer Organizations (FPOs) and custom hiring centers. These entities enable farmers to share resources, such as drones and other machinery, ensuring cost-effectiveness and accessibility without the need for individual ownership.  He further explores the need for linking Minimum Support Price (MSP) with the nutritional profile of biofortified varieties. This would incentivise farmers to adopt these crops and ensure their economic sustainability.   Singh advocates for aligning policy mechanisms, such as those by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), to support this integration.