ICRISAT advocates rescue plan for dryland farmers
Working over decades with poor farmers in the drylands of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, ICRISAT believes that it is essential to strengthen the resource base and incomes of the poor farmers.
Backbone
“These farmers are the backbone of any economy, and if their conditions are not improved, the economy will suffer adverse impacts that will be difficult to repair.
There is much that governments can do to support these farmers,” said Dr William Dar, Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh.
Quality seeds
“In addition to financial support, there is need for supportive policies, improved infrastructure, access to better quality seeds and inputs, irrigation support, and support for establishing more effective institutions,” he said.
Poor farmers, especially those in the drylands, are suffering from lack of governmental support. Cutting-edge agricultural research can achieve substantial improvements in crop yields and farmers’ income.
So it falls to reason that agricultural research itself should be supported better through government funds.
GDP
It is worth mentioning that less than 10 per cent of public spending in developing countries goes to agriculture even though this sector commonly accounts for about half of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
And less than 1 per cent of public spending goes to agricultural research; research that is vital to the innovation that opens new livelihood opportunities, Dr Dar said.
The methods used by ICRISAT for improving crop production and increasing farmers’ income are: integrated genetic and natural resource management; development and use of effective agri-biotechnological tools; agro-ecosystem development and management; research on markets, policies and institutions; development of effective public-private-people partnerships; and the development of a pro-poor biofuel packages that provide for food and fuel security.
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