GUNTUR: The size of land holdings in India is becoming smaller contrary to the increase witnessed in countries like the US and Australia, said the Andhra Pradesh State Finance Corporation Managing Director, M. Ajeya Kallam.

Speaking at a conference on `Incubating Agripreneurship' organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Saturday, he said that small landholding size was one of the reasons for the slow growth in agriculture sector. "The per capita size of land holding in India has now come down to 1.7 hectares from 2.3 hectares in 1971. In the US and Australia, it has grown over the years," he said.

The percent of agriculture labourers has also been growing and now it had touched 48 percent. Giving a push to the manufacturing sector will help check this trend. The agripreneurship opportunities in climate management, soil health management, cultivation of medicinal plants, plants that have potential for extracting ethanol like sweet sorghum, etc. carried a lot of promise, he said.

Earlier, CII AP chairman M.K. Patodia said the purpose of the seminar was to initiate a discussion on the prospect of agripreneurship, with reference to the agriculturally rich region like Guntur.

Guntur Collector, G. Jayalakshmi spoke on the potential of Guntur district in taking up agripreneurship activities. Forty seven per cent of chilli in India came from Guntur while the total cropped area for chillies was only 18 to 20 per cent.

Guntur's record

Even in terms of cotton, the district was among the leading centres in the country. More than 6 lakh hectares were under cultivation in the district and 76 per cent of the area was under irrigation, she said.

Mrs. Jayalakshmi invited the CII to encourage setting up of agripreneurship units in the district and assured of all possible help from the Government. Guntur MP, Rayapati Sambasiva Rao criticised the business community and the Government for not providing proper marketing facilities for the produce. "Successive Governments and business houses have only emphasized on increasing production and have ignored the crucial issue of marketing and storage. Farmers are the suffering lot due to this," he said.

The CII AP convener on agri-task force, C.S. Jadhav, CII Vijayawada zone chairman, K.A. Swaroop Reddy and about 140 delegates from business houses and farmers participated.

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