Quality, entrepreneurship in farming key to making India a global leader: OSD to CM

A state-level workshop on promotion of agri-entrepreneurship was recently organised by Kisan Kalyan Pradhikaran, Government of Haryana, at GSF Research Centre, Karnal.

Chairing the meeting, Virender Singh Badkhalsa, OSD to the Haryana CM, said quality, management and entrepreneurship in agriculture were key to realising the goal of making India a global leader by 2047. He said fundamental changes and a focus on agricultural entrepreneurship were essential to transform India into a world power.

Earlier, he visited stalls set up by agri-entrepreneurs from various districts of Haryana and interacted with them about their products.

The programme witnessed the participation of entrepreneurial farmers and agricultural experts who shared their views on modern techniques.

Badkhalsa said farmers needed not only technical expertise but also soft behavioural skills to succeed as entrepreneurs. Farmers must know how to market their products, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and effectively communicate with buyers, he added.

“The journey from seed to market must be transformed into the journey from field to plate,” he said.

He added that connectivity was the first condition for development in any sector, and Haryana’s road infrastructure should be leveraged by farmers to explore entrepreneurship.

Kavinder Rana, Karnal representative of Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, said farmers should look at agriculture not just as a means of livelihood but as a professional enterprise. He added that farmers now were hesitant to encourage their children to follow in their footsteps, which undermined the dignity of the profession.

Despite heavy subsidies and welfare schemes by the government, farmers continued to face financial challenges, he said.

GSFRED Chairman Gurbachan Singh stressed the need to adopt an integrated farming system for doubling farmers’ income and to promote agri-entrepreneurship on the fields of small and marginal farmers. Around 200 farmers and agricultural experts participated in the one-day workshop.