Phl needs plan to weather 'perfect storm' - Dar

HYDERABAD, India – The Philippines, as do other developing countries, needs a contingency plan to weather what is developing to be a perfect storm, the head of an international agri-research institution said.

Dr. William Dar, director general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), said fortuitous events have been converging over the past several weeks to form what may be considered a perfect storm that threatens to push the food situation to crisis levels.

Dr. Dar aired this warning during the opening ceremonies of the Global Agri-Business Incubation Conference held March 8-10 at ICRISAT’s 3,000-acre campus in Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh. Prior to this, Dr. Dar spoke with a group of visiting Filipino journa-lists.

Dr. Dar pointed out that climate change, shrinking farm holdings, rising production costs, and political turmoil in oil-producing countries  are converging to create a ‘perfect storm,’ which is fuelling a surge in food prices.

“Do we have enough reserves? How are our projections? How much are we importing? We keep on importing, but what about our reserves?” he asked as he observed that increases in the prices of oil and food will affect mostly low-income earners.

Dr. Dar, who was the Philippines’ agriculture secretary during the first year of President Joseph Estrada’s term, suggested that the government enhance food production in areas that are not frequented by typhoons such as Mindanao.

“Mindanao will be key to food sufficiency,” he said.

He also urged the Department of Agriculture to take a second look at its current stance of de-emphasizing the use of hybrid rice seeds and promoting instead organic farming.

“Organic farming has its own niche in the world food market. It is not bad, but it cannot (provide for) the needs of the country’s growing population,” he said.

Dr. Dar also cited the observation of Dr. Rolando Dy of the University of Asia and the Pacific that the government has been putting too much emphasis on rice and has been pouring most of its resources on rice and corn.

While rice is the staple food of Filipinos and therefore a very important crop, there are other crops that are crying out for attention by the government. There is a need to diversify and to go into more high-value crops to raise the level of income of Filipino farmers, he said.

Attended by over 170 participants from India and other countries, the conference was aimed at helping strengthen the capacities of agri-business incubators by networking with policymakers and funding agencies for policy and financial support.

Co-sponsored by the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and ICRISAT, NIABI 2011 aimed to create global awareness, build competencies on agribusiness incubation among entrepreneurs, and establish global partnerships.

The conference included 10 sessions, 45 speakers from 10 countries, and agri-exhibition of 10 business planning and development (BPD) units under the NIABI, along with 6 other startup ventures.

At the event’s inaugural session, Dr. Dar stressed that innovative products, processes and concepts by entrepreneurs and their integration into existing agricultural systems is the pathway to true inclusive agricultural growth.

In his inaugural address, Dr. S. Ayyappan, director general of ICAR, touched on various issues facing agriculture, and called for “bringing a ‘profit-prestige partnership’ model to farming through innovation and entrepreneurship to encourage the youth to venture into agriculture.” He added that ICAR would create an agri-innovation foundation by the end of this year to provide a platform to enable faster spread of innovations and connectivity to markets.

In commemoration of the 100th International Women’s Day, a special interactive session for women agri-preneurs focused on success stories and entrepreneurial opportunities for women in agriculture and allied sectors.

Speaking at the valedictory session, Minister for Revenue of Andhra Pradesh Shri N Raghuveera Reddy stressed the importance of the “agribusiness approach as a new step in promoting agriculture.” He pointed out that though India has become self-sustaining in agriculture, the country may again have to face the challenge of food security due to shrinking land holdings and climate change, as well as people moving out of agriculture.

“Agribusiness can be the answer to this issue,” he emphasized.

The business planning and development (BPD) unit of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU-BPD) was awarded the Best Agribusiness Incubator Award for successfully facilitating a research program with Bioseed Research India Pvt. Ltd.

The Best Agribusiness Incubatee award was given to Rajkumar of M/S Emral Tune Line Systems.  Rajkumar, an electrical engineer, has ventured in developing the mobile-based irrigation system. This invention enables the user to operate irrigation pump using mobile phone from any part of the country.

The conference also marked the launching of the Global Agribusiness Incubation Network (GABI), spearheaded by ICRISAT and ICAR.

The next edition of the global NIABI conference will happen in New Delhi in January 2012.