| | JUNE 20218Thought CentralA griculture in India has changed rapidly over the last two decades. With increas-ing fragmentation of land holding, small holder farmers (those owning less than 2.0 ha of farmland) now comprise nearly 80 percent of the country's farmers. Consequently, India's nutritional security now rests with the produc-tivity that comes from these small-sized farms. In other words, more productivity, higher eco-nomic returns with nutritious food from the small holder farmer is the need of the hour, and vegetable farming presents a great promise combined with innovative solutions and a technology-based approach.The Economic Survey 2019 tabled in the parliament has stated that adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) should be the `backbone of small holder farming in India' adding that the spread of mobile phones in rural areas has already impacted the way small and marginal farmers get access to information on soil health, weather and prices. It further said the adoption of ICT in agriculture would promote market access, facilitate financial inclusion, and con-tribute significantly to early warning signals that are critical to the development of small holder communities. Increasing population awareness to con-sume more vegetables to meet diverse di-etary requirements and nutritional needs has raised the demand for vegetables signifi-cantly. As against general nutrition guide-lines recommending average per capita consumption of 110 kg of vegetables per annum, the production in the country is adequate at the per-capita level of around 140 kg per annum. However, there is still a relative shortfall of vegetables in meeting the required nutritional needs of the population due to mismanagement at various lev-els. Because of the inherently perishable nature of the produce, around 30 percent of vegetables perish during INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS AND TECHNOLOGY - BASED APPROACH TO ENHANCE THE PRODUCTIVITY OF VEGETABLE FARMERSBy Dilip Rajan, Managing Director, East-West Seed IndiaDilip Rajan
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