Post COVID Era Scenario for Farm Sector: Elets to Organise Agriculture Innovation Summit – eGov Magazine | Elets

Coronavirus, a crisis that has swept off huge numbers from the economy has affected various sectors drastically. Agriculture is one of them. India’s agriculture sector has been massively hit by the corona crisis and subsequent lockdown. As the demands for vegetables, fruits and flowers dropped, farmers were looking for an immediate respite from governments. The entire mechanism from production to supply chain to delivery experienced a hit following the onset of COVID. Looking at the grim situation government bodies, private players are taking the technology route to resettle the system. Hence, the focus is shifted towards powering the agriculture sector with advanced technology and innovative measures. Highlighting the agenda, Elets Technomedia is organising ‘Agriculture Innovation Summit’– India’s first virtual summit on agriculture, on May 30, 2020, in partnership with ICAR and CIP International Potato Centre along with Embassy of Brazil & Embassy of Israel as a Country Partners. It will also see the presence of eminent experts from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Embassy of Netherlands.

The Summit will witness an eminent panel comprising of policymakers from the Centre and the State governments; heads of State Agricultural Marketing Boards; Central and State Warehousing Corporations; and Global Though Leaders. Moreover, Supply Chain and Logistics Companies; Technology Innovation Companies and Startups along with Banks and Financial Institutions and Commodity Exchanges will also be participating in the Agricultural Innovation Summit.

The event will see expert opinions being delivered by an eminent panel comprising of Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee, IAS, Country Director- IndiaCountry Relations and Business Affairs, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics ( ICRISAT) as Key Note Speaker; Dr B Janardhan Reddy, Agriculture Production Commissioner & Secretary, Agriculture & Cooperation Department, Government of Telangana; and Dr Heera Lal, IAS, Additional Mission DirectorNational Health Mission, Government of Uttar Pradesh as speakers delivering Special Address.

Dr Ashok Dalwai, IAS, CEO, National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India, will be present as the Special Guest.

The Summit will further see prominent speakers addressing the summit –

Lazaro Sandoval, Senior Agricultural Attaché, Foreign Agricultural Service, United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Consulate General, Mumbai

Dan Alluf, MASHAV Counsellor, Science and Agriculture, Embassy of Israel, New Delhi

John Southwell, Counsellor (Agriculture), Australian High Commission to India

Pedro Ivo Ferraz Da Silva, Head of the Energy Environment and Science, Technology & Innovation Section Embassy of, Brazil in New Delhi

Dr Manoranjan Mohanty, Principal Scientist, ICAR – Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal

Asia Regional Director, International Potato Centre (CIP), Manila

Deepak Pareek, CEO, DigiAgri

The Agriculture Summit will focus on how the Corona crisis can be utilised as an opportunity for the agricultural sector to reform policies, infra, supply chains and more. How the concerned government bodies and industry leaders can convert the challenges into potential opportunities in the post COVID era. Also, technological interventions in the agricultural sector will be one of the key discussion points in the summit. Further, the discussions will involve agro finances, credit and insurance issues. Another key focus area will include the expert panel throwing light on reengineering of the supply chains. How the entire supply chain and the logistics system can be strengthened using advanced technologies effective management and well-devised policies. Also, how the Corona crisis has been a learning for the industry and how to gear up systems to be prepared for any such crisis in future.