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Investors' meet to project agriculture as a lucrative industry

Agro-Advantage Maharashtra, the four-day Global Investors' Convention and international exposition, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday in Bombay.

It will bring together people from fields like agriculture, agro-industries, food processing and allied sectors. The GIC will focus on investment opportunities and presentation of projects with high potential in agro-inputs, post harvest infrastructure, agro-processing, food processing, floriculture, bio-technology, dairy, poultry, fisheries, meat and meat products and agro-based industries.

Around 600 delegates from India and abroad are expected to attend the convention which will showcase 101 proposals, including seven from the government, to the tune of Rs 55.02 billion.

Agriculture contributes more than 22 per cent of Maharashtra's annual income. Over the last few years, Maharashtra has taken several policy measures for speedy growth of the agro-food sector. An ambitious horticulture development programme, establishment of cold chain facilities and setting up of pesticides residue testing laboratory are on the anvil.

Chief Minister Manohar Joshi said the main objective of the convention is to impress upon the farmers to halt the migration of rural youth to the urban areas and to make agriculture a lucrative industry. ''My government has taken several policy measures on modernisation of farming, technology upgradation and human resource development,'' he stated.

''Maharashtra is technologically the most advanced state in India. No matter what the sector, product or size of investment, Maharashtra has the infrastructure, people, resources, skills and a vibrant industrial culture (to make the most of it),'' he added.

The state will provide financial assistance of 25 per cent of the capital investment for setting up of infrastructure. An agro marketing information service centre will provide latest information on high-value export-oriented crops.

In the first plenary session on Global Perspective and New Horizons in Indian Agriculture, the keynote presentations would be Emerging Trends in Indian Agriculture by K Rajan, former secretary, agriculture, Government of India; Relevance of Israeli Experience to Indian Context by Yaacov Tsur, chairman, Agrexco, Israel and Agri Business -- A Global Perspective by Peter Greenberg, head of food and agribusiness, Rabo Bank, the Netherlands.

The second plenary session will be on Finance for Agriculture and Related Activities and the third one on Infrastructure for Agriculture. There will also be concurrent panel discussions along with presentation of projects on horticulture, fruit processing, bio-technology; marketing, cold chain and co-generation of power; agro-processing and floriculture; meat, poultry and fisheries; dairy and input (seeds, pesticides, fertilisers).

The international exposition Agro-Food Tech-'98 will be inaugurated by Joshi on Saturday.

UNI

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