National Conference on Enhancing Agricultural Productivity

Agricultural productivity is synonymous to a system where the different aspects are being addressed such as; fertility of land, optimum production of a commodity, ecological sustenance, and the improvement of the Farmers’ livings. India is now a growing country both in terms of population and economy and such transformation needs new planning and execution of integration of improved agri inputs for achieving higher crop productivity. Farming cannot be initiated without a planting material and thus, seed is a fundamental input.  Seed plays a crucial role in agricultural expansion as it is a carrier of genetic information which controls the maximum crop productivity, disease resistance, and tolerance to environmental stresses such as drought. Therefore, access to quality seed is essential in improving farming and food security in agrarian nation like India. On the other hand, farming inputs such as; fertilisers suffice a crop plant the nutrients which are essential to its optimum growth. 

Integrating these inputs are one of the most economical and efficient strategy to develop and strengthen profitable agricultural enterprise. Regardless of the availability of several technologies, particularly of improved crop varieties, there has been limited use of improved seeds and fertilisers by most of the farmers. Inaccessibility of improved seeds and fertilisers with little awareness of their promotion system is one of the key factors contributing for low agricultural productivity. 

There is a need to motivate farmers to adopt newer cultivars, to move forward with a notion of getting better yields and their newer seeds are made less resource intensive and climatically superior. Farming inputs contributes about 40–50% of total yield increase for most of the crops. Combining use of advanced science and technology for improved seed cultivars, effective farm management in crop production, and judicious use of fertilisers are essential with a favourable policy environment which is supportive to farmers. 

The Government of India has been taken various initiatives for strengthening the seed production value chain through enhanced availability of quality seeds & planting material of crops to farmers across the country through various programs. However, the awareness campaign for execution of new agri-inputs is the need of the hour for yielding more productivity.

Therefore, with a view to creating awareness for improved farm inputs, ASSOCHAM is organizing a National Conference on Enhancing Agricultural Productivity: Integration of Improved Seeds and Agri Inputs on October 12th, 2022, at The Park Hotel, New Delhi.