9 March 2012
No. 1509
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy inaugurating AP-TEC 2012 as ICRISAT Director General William Dar and others look on.
At the AP-TEC 2012
ICRISAT shares inclusive agricultural value chain approach “Developing countries worldwide are witnessing a fundamental shift in agriculture from subsistence farming to a more market-oriented approach. Rising incomes, growing urbanization, and changes in consumer preferences are driving demand for high-value commodities and niche markets for specialty products. Linking farmers to markets by improving the efficiency of value chains has become critical in leveraging the potential of agriculture in benefiting small-scale producers,� said Director General William Dar.
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peaking at the inaugural session of AP-TEC 2012, Dr Dar stressed the importance of Inclusive Market-Oriented Development (IMOD) as crucial in ensuring better returns to farmers and helping them get out of poverty for good. Creating strong publicprivate partnerships, he added, results in a selfsustaining value chain, where critical inputs such as technology and market information reach farmers in
a timely manner, and quality and preferred products reach end-users. Addressing the issue of rising costs of agricultural production and poor returns to farmers would require technological innovations to increase productivity, enhancing input delivery system, and attaining effective value addition to ensure farm profitability, Dr Dar emphasized. to page 2 ...4