Need better synergy between govt and private players for harnessing PPP model in agriculture: Agri secretary

New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) Agriculture secretary Manoj Ahuja on Tuesday called for better synergy between the government and private players for harnessing the public- private partnership model in agriculture.

"Several players are working in silos. Being in the government, we can play the role of a conductor in a symphony orchestra. Can we bring about the synergy and work together," Ahuja said addressing an event organised by the industry chamber Ficci here.

For harnessing Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in agriculture, he said the government first expects the industry to have a shared understanding and intention to improve the farm sector.

Secondly, the government expects to have "frameworks" for scaling up interventions in the farm sector and thirdly to work jointly depending on the need, and fourthly to see if agri schemes can be converged to make things viable, he said.

Lastly, the secretary called for synergy between the government and industry in sharing information on agriculture, which at present is partly with either of them.

"There is a lot of information available, but it is disparate. Something is with the government and something with the private. Can we bring that together to help everybody. A lot of people are doing crop estimates, can we share this info so that we have stronger results," he said.

Joint secretary in agriculture ministry Vijaya Lakshmi Nadenla said inputs, infrastructure, institution and investment are the crucial "four Is" in agri PPP.

"We lack fourth one, i.e. investment. Private can pitch in. These four Is can be doable in the agri PPP framework," she said.

Speaking on the occasion, another joint secretary from the agriculture ministry Samuel Praveen Kumar said currently investment in agriculture is lower than other sectors and the government is looking at creating a better environment for harnessing PPP.

Many industry players, including Dhanuka Agritech Group chairman R G Agrawal, ADM Agro India managing director Amrendra Mishra, Rivulis Irrigation India managing director Kaushal Jaiswal and Bayer Cropscience Policy and Stakeholders engagement lead Vaishali Chopra shared their ideas on harnessing the PPP model in agriculture. PTI LUX HVA