Shri V.S. Sunil Kumar, Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture,
Prof. C. Ravindranath, Hon’ble Minister for Education,
Smt. Ajitha Jayarajan, Mayor, Trissur
Adv. K. Rajan, MLA,Olloor Consituency,
Smt. Mary Thomas, District Panchayath President,
Shri Teeka Ram Meena, IAS, Agricultural Production Commissioner
Shri A.M. Sunil Kumar, Director of Agriculture

Dear Members of the Farming Community,
Sahodaree Sahodaranmaare,
Ellaavarkkum Ente Namaskaaram,

   
    I am very happy to inaugurate VAIGA 2017, the five-day International Workshop on Agro processing and value addition in agriculture, organized by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Kerala.

    I clearly recall that last year, we had conducted the first edition of VAIGA as a prelude to a series of upcoming initiatives in agro-business in the State. I am happy that the effort to promote agriculture as a profitable enterprise continues this year also, with the aim of attracting more    entrepreneurs into the world of farming. Let me, therefore, begin by conveying my deep sense of appreciation for this noble initiative of the Department of Agriculture.

    Even though Agriculture remains as the sector that employs one of the largest workforces in our country, its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product has been on the decline over the years. The rise of the services sector as the major contributor to the nation's economy, has opened up a world of opportunities for educated people. This has also affected the industrial sector to the extent of its contribution registering a negative growth. But, the worst affected has been agriculture, the contribution of which has fallen drastically in the last decade. People had also been moving away from agriculture, blaming it as being less profitable or even, perpetually loss making.
    It was in this context that the Government of Kerala decided to convince people about the importance of agriculture and to involve as many people as possible in farming activities. I am very happy that the Government did not limit its involvement to the creation of awareness on agriculture alone; instead, it went on to identify places for directly starting farming activities. These efforts of the Department of Agriculture have resulted in more people coming into cultivation of paddy, vegetables and other crops. In my personal opinion, these efforts to promote agriculture are to be seen as an ideal example of nation building. 

    It is quite encouraging to note that there is a renewed interest in agriculture in our State. As part of the     Haritha-keralam Mission, many households have started growing vegetables in a limited way. But, our aim should be to ensure that we have more agro-based businesses flourishing in our State. What we need is a committed army of agri-preneurs, who would use the available technologies to start business ventures that would fruitfully utilize the opportunities for value addition in agriculture.
    In spite of our country being the world's second largest producer of fruits and vegetables, we suffer tremendous wastage due to lack of proper infrastructure in post-harvest management and value addition technologies. According to Indian Council for Agricultural Research, we suffer a 15% loss due to lack of post-harvest facilities. The condition in Kerala is also not very different. Considering the increase in agricultural output, we need to double our installed capacity for storage facilities so that value addition also becomes easier.  In addition, we need to make sure that ordinary farmers get modern knowledge about value addition and access to the   technologies used for value addition.

    We all know that utilizing Value addition in agriculture is not as easy as it sounds. It requires more capital investment, infrastructure, marketing efforts, proper guidelines, training and governmental support and close monitoring.  I am happy that today's workshop lays special emphasis on the showcasing of the value addition technologies available for various crops especially, Banana, Coconut, Millet and Honey.

    Today, there are many institutions which offer a wide variety of technologies related to value addition in agricultural products, but farmers are not fully aware of them. People who take early retirement from the Information Technology Sector, Ex-service Men, those who return from the Gulf countries and youngsters who initiate start-up ventures are now coming into agri-businesses. Many of our people have seen large and modern agro-processing industries in the Gulf and other countries and would like to start such ventures in Kerala. Such people need proper guidance, and so, the mechanism for providing timely guidance needs to be strengthened and made pro-active.
     Likewise, there are many agencies that work to promote agri-businesses among people. Already, we have the Department for Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA), Rural Development and Self Employment Training Institute (RUDSETI), Sainik Welfare Board and other Credit and Incubating agencies working towards the promotion of agri-business. We need to coordinate the working of such agencies to create new entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector. I understand that VAIGA 2017 is an ambitious step in this direction.

     We are already aware of value addition technologies developed by institutions like the National Institute of Interdisciplinary Research (NIIST) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Agricultural University, etc. I have seen a wide variety of technologies related to pepper, jack-fruit, cashew apple and even banana fiber. We have to ensure a regular flow of practical inputs from such centres to the farmers, so that they can make use of such information.  I hope the different institutions  taking part in the workshop would open   more effective channels of knowledge sharing with the farmers.

    As in last year, today also I would emphasize the need for Skill up-gradation in the farm sector. Value addition and agro-businesses can succeed only through regular exposure and training. More importantly, we need a mechanism to help such entrepreneurs to withstand the pressures of the unfavorable trends in agri-business. The element of risk should no longer deter people from remaining firmly in Agriculture and agri-business. Unless we firm up such a mechanism, we cannot expect agri-preneurs to flourish in Kerala. Personally, I would suggest that agricultural enterprises should get the kind of privileges that the Information Technology industry is now getting. When we talk of Ease of doing business, let us start from ensuring Ease of doing Agriculture and Agricultural business. 

       I compliment the Department of Agriculture, Government of Kerala for organizing this workshop for the benefit of the farming and agro-business community.  I greet all the agri-preneurs who have come forward to attend this workshop.  I also greet all the experts presenting papers and leading the various training sessions in this programme. Together, let us make Kerala the greenest pasture for agri-businesses.

Ellavarkkum Ente Aashamsakal

Nanni
Jai Hind