Malawi envoy hails the Krishi Agricultural Conference and Exhibition

In a bid to learn from India's agriculture success story, H.E. Dr. Perks Ligoya took the initiative to attend the Krishi Vasant, in Nagpur, India. The event which is one of India's biggest conference and farmers' exhibition was jointly organised by the the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in collaboration with the Government of India at Krishi Vasant in Nagpur from 9-13 February 2014.

Shri Pranab Mukheerji President of India inaugurated the exposition. In his remarks the President commended the agriculture sector for “the new dimension and the new direction” provided to Indian farmers in the last ten years, which had seen the country achieving food security and becoming a top exporter of grains. The President noted that in this period, special initiatives taken for increasing grains production in the eastern part of the country, production of pulses and oilseeds. He also noted that the provision of credit to farmers had resulted in second agricultural revolution in the country.

Also speaking at the event, Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Agriculture and food processing informed the gathering that India had become a top exporter of rice and second top exporter of wheat and cotton. India also is the top producer of milk and horticultural crops. He projected that the country was likely to attain 263.2 million tonnes of grain production in 2014. The farm technology displayed at the exhibition included farm machinery, new crop and animal varieties and breeds, fertilisers and seeds. The exhibition also included new technologies arising from research, and best practices. The Minister of agriculture called upon farmers to emulate these successful farmers to improve their own farm production to attain prosperity.

Also speaking at the conference was Shri S. Gopalakrishnan, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He informed the gathering that India had become a major international player in the agricultural sector. He suggested that the Auto and Manufacturing Industries must work in close association with farmers and their associations to yield more benefits by creating a good supply and logistics chain.

The exhibition attracted three hundred exhibitors of cereals, pulses, fodder, oilseeds, vegetables and cotton and livestock including fish and poultry.

Commenting on the exhibition, Dr Perks M. Ligoya, Malawi High Commissioner said the exhibition was very educative. He also said he had drawn many lessons and identified a number of farm machinery, which he acknowledged, "were ideal for Malawi small scale farmers."