New Delhi, May 15, 2020: Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) welcomes the measures taken by the Government of India to boost the agriculture sector and uplift the farmers in these tough times.

Dr MRamasami, Chairman, FSII said, “Setting up of Rs 1 lakh crore agriculture infra fund for farm-gate infrastructure and Rs 10,000-crore scheme for the formalisation of micro food enterprises and amendment of the essential commodities act will bring a renewed focus on agriculture and farmers welfare,”

Mr Ram Kaundinya, Director General, FSII said, “The amendment of Essential Commodities Act was much awaited and it is a Big step towards entry of multiple players in the agricultural market making it competitive and thus allowing farmers to get better pricing for their produce.  The de-regulation of agricultural produce including cereals, edible oils, oil seeds, pulses, onions and potato is a bold step that will have immense impact on the open market. The law to implement agriculture marketing reforms will provide adequate choices to farmers, especially if they are supported by digital platforms”.

Dr Shivendra Bajaj, Executive Director, FSII said, “We welcome the focus on agricultural produce price and quality assurance. Such risk mitigation measures will assure fair price and profit to the farmer. We are also looking forward to Rs 10,000-crore scheme for the formalisation of micro food enterprises, especially the planned support for existing micro food enterprises, farmer producer organisation, self-help groups and cooperatives”.

About FSII

The Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) is a 42-member led association of R&D based seed industry. The member companies are engaged in the production of high-performance quality seeds for food, feed and fibre in the country. They are focused on research-based breeding applications and seed technologies, enabling farmers to adopt technology driven farming solutions to improve agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner.