Agri Conclave, CCI Mumbai. As part of our ‘Know the Sector’ educational series, an Agri Conclave was organised at CCI Mumbai on January 12, attended by members of the Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru chapters. Speakers included Mr. Sanjiv Lal, MD and CEO of Rallis India Ltd., Mr. Simon Wiebusch, Executive Director of Bayer CropScience Ltd., and Mr. Kunal Mittal, Senior Vice President at Sumitomo Chemical India Ltd.
The speakers conveyed that agriculture could be at a tipping point. Technology and mechanisation, meaningful involvement of FPOs and smarter procurement could bring down the cost of domestic produce and scale up agri exports, while agri-related manufacturing is being strengthened through the PLI scheme and more efficient supply chains.
An earlier Agri Conclave in Mumbai opened with two stalwarts of the agrochemical sector, Mr. Chetan Shah, MD of Sumitomo Chemical India Ltd., and Mr. Sanjiv Lal, MD of Rallis India Ltd., who spoke on the Indian agricultural scenario, the impact of China’s blue-sky policy on Indian chemical companies, doubling farmers’ income and reaching farmers through digital platforms.
The second session featured Mr. Rajendra Barwale, Chairman of Mahyco, and Mr. N. K. Kangliwal, Chairman of Nath Seeds Ltd., on the workings of the seed industry, a hi-tech, research-oriented and capital-intensive business. The final session with Mr. Amith Agarwal, Co-Founder of Agribazaar, traced how his company grew into the largest agricultural warehousing and agri-finance company, and opened our eyes to robotics and drones in farming.
