'Integrated approach needed to develop agriculture'

India can achieve five per cent growth in agriculture if the government bridges technology gap.

India can achieve five per cent growth in agriculture if the government bridges technology gap and addresses issues like stagnation of production and low public and private investment, a study by Yes bank has said.

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"There is a need for an integrated and holistic approach with regulatory reforms, infrastructure development, credit availability and business restructuring if we have to achieve five per cent growth in agriculture," said Kalyan Chakravarthy, Head of Food and Agriculture at Yes Bank.

Chakravarthy, who was part of the FICCI-Yes Bank team that recently published a book on Indian agriculture, said the government focus should be more on some particular thrust areas as identified by the team.

Horticulture, dryland agriculture, wasteland development, organic farming and infrastructure development are some of the thrust areas identified by the team, he said.

Pointing out that the present marketing system of fresh produce in the country is not conducive for horticulture growth, Chakravorthy said it should be reformed.

"There are so many constraints like lack of proper grading as per quality and absence of a price discovery mechanism," Chakravarthy said adding a lot needed to be a done to develop infrastructure in agriculture.

"You cannot expect the farmers to come to a mandi if there is no proper road connectivity between the village and the mandi."

Other infrastructure issues that needed immediate redressal are to increase the warehousing facilities and creating cold chain facilities across India, he said.