June 2020 – Krishna Kumar, CEO and Founder, CropIn features on the CNBC TV18 Young Turks segment to discuss the agricultural reforms cleared by the Government of India keeping in mind the COVID-19 situation that has impacted sectors globally.
The Government of India under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Economic Package, has deregulated commodities like cereal, pulses etc, approved farm produce trade ordinance which will pave way for farmers to sell their produce anywhere in India and also cleared the farmers agreement on price assurance ordinance, which will allow them to engage with processors, aggregators, large retailers and exporters. By freeing India’s agricultural markets from the limitations imposed by permits and mandis that were originally designed for an era of scarcity, this move now provides more choices to farmers to trade their produce.
Commenting on how the reforms will impact the agricultural sector and how platforms like SmartFarm can leverage these reforms, Krishna was quoted saying, “This is a welcome move for the farmers in the country who have been waiting for a long time to see these reforms happening. I think if these reforms are combined with the existing FPO structure, reconfiguration of supplies will happen smoothly and farmer livelihoods will improve as a result. FPOs alone will not be a solution, but linking the input to the capital invested will bring in the right result.”
