July 2020, South Asia 

During these COVID-19 times, the only silver lining for the economy is agriculture. Its contribution to GDP has increased partly because agriculture has done well for itself, as well as the fact that other sectors of the economy have not done very well.

With above-normal rainfall supported by major policy disruptions at mandi level and varied pilot initiatives, agriculture has witnessed a new wave this year. This sector is estimated to dominate the growth of India’s economy at least for FY 2020-2021. In fact, what 1991 was for industry and the Indian economy, 2020 could do the same for agriculture.

In order to find ways to improve this sector further, SIES and Free Press Journal in association with NSE, NCDEX Investor (Client) Protection Fund Trust, and East West Seed organised a webinar series on the ‘Future of Agriculture’. The first webinar of the series was ‘Why agriculture matters for India’ which was moderated by RN Bhaskar, Consulting Editor, The Free Press Journal. The panellists at the session were Arun Raste, Executive Director, NDDB; Dilip Rajan, MD, East-West Seed India; and Simon Thorsten Wiebusch, COO, Bayer Crop Science Division.

Dilip Rajan said, “Agriculture can be the sole bright spot in this overall gloomy economic outlook.” Economists believe that agriculture alone can give the Indian economy an overall GDP boost by 0.5-1 per cent. He added that agriculture can help India’s stalled economy and infuse the much-needed demand into the system.