ITTA, MoT and SASMIRA jointly organise National Conclave on Agrotech
The exhibition also demonstrated various agrotextile products and their applications, which added value to the delegates and invitees and given opportunity to do networking with user ministry officials and farmers.
The Indian Technical Textile Association (ITTA) jointly with the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and in partnership with The Synthetic & Art Silk Mills’ Research Association (SASMIRA), COE-Agrotech successfully organised the National Conclave On Agrotech – “Accelerating Productivity of Agriculture & Horticulture Products”.
Rachna Shah, Secretary, MoT, GoI, was the chief guest of the conclave and addressed the delegates. She highlighted that agriculture plays a significant role in the Indian economy and the life of its citizens. Agriculture is also a major contributor with its share in country’s GDP has a long-term trend of around 18-20 per cent. She opined that Agrotextiles can play an important role in addressing the agricultural challenges like climate change, water constraints and high demand of agri-produce with limited arable land available, improving agricultural productivity and quality of Agri-based products by extending the growing cycle of crops. Research and studies have shown that the use of Agro textiles in horticulture leads to increase in farm productivity by 2-5 times, increase in crop intensity, reduction in water consumption by 30-45 per cent, reduction in fertilizer usage by 25-30 per cent, and higher harvest cycle per year. She further stated that a collaborative approach between certification agencies, research organizations, industry, academia and ministry is imperative to address the cost implications of agrotextiles and work together in increasing awareness and education amongst farmers for wider adoption by the larger agricultural community for the growth of the sector, she further added.
Rajeev Saxena, Joint Secretary, MoT, GoI, in his key note address, highlighted that India holds a tremendous potential in the global agrotextiles market of $12 billion wherein India’s share is 3 per cent. Though India is one of the biggest markets for fishing nets, other agrotextile products like mulch-mats, antibird nets holding significant share in global demand, can also be promoted in the context of Indian domestic market. To ensure superior quality, wider safety, and comprehensive reliability of products in agrotextiles, he mentioned that MoT has notified QCO for 20 agrotextile items, which will come in-effect from April 1, 2024. Further, Ministry has also sanctioned 11 R&D projects in agrotextiles valuing Rs 13.67 crore for development of innovative products under NTTM scheme. He also announced that MoT is going to establish a Climate Smart Agrotextile Demonstration Centre to revolutionise agriculture through digitised microclimate farming in partnership with SASMIRA.
The welcome address was given by Amit Agarwal, Chairman, ITTA. He said that the objective of the conclave, having conference & exhibition, was to create awareness on the latest product innovations & technology developments, acquire knowledge & ideas for new investments & export opportunities on agrotextiles, enhance knowledge base on requirement of current agrotech industries & market, to understand product standards & certification process and creating a B2B & B2G platform for agrotextile industry.
Z P Patel, Vice Chancellor, Navsari Agriculture University, in his special address, highlighted that there is an average farming production loss of 10-40 per cent due to climate change, especially in the rain-fed areas. Agrotextiles such as crop cover, mulch mats, polyhouses, etc. hold the potential to manage and stimulate the microclimate for crops during farming leading to higher productivity for agriculture products, he emphasised. He mentioned that on the back of diverse geographical location-based benefits of agrotextiles, the segment has proved to be tremendously beneficial for the agricultural sector in India. There is a need for bio-degradable agro-fibre based agrobags which can be automatically degraded in the soil after the mulching process overtime, leading to planting process and sustainability. There is a need of developing innovative agrotextile products like soil degradable agro fabrics, artificial soil which are nutrient rich and has water holding capacity, super absorbent polymer fibres to prevent waterlogging in high-rain areas, weather, and micro-organisms resistant fabrics, etc. He further informed that a Agrotextiles demonstration center is being planned in the university to educate the farmers.
Priya Ranjan, Joint Secretary, Dept of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare & Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) talked that his ministry is focusing activities on effective use of agrotextiles. He stated that agrotextiles has a critical role to play in overcoming the unprecedented challenges agriculture sector faces due to climate change, soil degradation, and water scarcity which can threaten the very foundation of our food security. Schemes such as Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) has incorporated the different agrotextile products for wider usage and penetration. Furthermore, other collaborative segments within Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare are being looked into for further inclusion of agrotextile products, he further added. He stated that by adopting the advanced technologies under agrotextiles, our farmers can not only increase the agriculture yields but also increase functional benefits and reduced input costs. This, in turn, will translate into increasing farmers income and the growth and development of the overall agriculture sector.
More than 220 participants attended the conclave including officials and representatives from central ministries, user departments of central and state governments, institutes, industry leaders, scientific experts, researchers, and professionals related to Agro textiles.
Two Books titled ‘Conclave Booklet’ prepared by ITTA and ‘Fibre To Field: Indian Agrotech Industry Opportunity’ prepared by Invest India were released during the conference.
A special interactive session on future growth and opportunities in agrotextiles, was organised in presence of Shah and Saxena. The farmers’ associations actively participated the discussion and presented their issues along with the delegates. Their issued were addressed and the questions were answered.
There were five technical sessions in the conference. First session deliberate on the market promotion, export opportunities’, Indian standards & Quality Control Order (QCO) on agrotextiles and investment opportunities. Session was moderated by Amit Agarwal, Chairman, CTM Technical Textiles and Eminent panelists were Bhavna Rathee, Assistant Vice President- Invest India; Sarabjit Singh, Business Head- Garware Technical Fibres; Dr Naveen Kumar Patle, Addl Horticulture Commissioner – Min of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Ajit B Chavan, Addl CEO, GeM- Ministry of Commerce & Industry; Dr K P Singh, ADG- Farm Engineering, ICAR; and J K Gupta, Head, Textiles Department- BIS. The QCO and implementation of the QCO was discussed at length and also how to differentiate the low-cost material with the ISI marked quality especially in the case of agro shade nets.
Next session was moderated by Roop Rashi, Textile Commissioner, MoT, GoI, dealt with Climate-Smart agrotextiles: Harnessing Textile Innovations for Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture. Presentations and discussions by the following panelists were focused on details of the above areas- Ravi Prakash Singh, Asst Director, SASMIRA- COE Agrotech; Anand Zambre, Executive Director- National Committee on Precision Agriculture & Horticulture (NCPAH); Sameer Mane, Senior Manager, Agro Textile Division- Emmbi Industries; and Vijay Ramakrishnan, Sr Vice President- Technical & New Businesses- Garware Technical Fibres.
Third session was devoted to innovations in the field of raw materials and functional additives: Enhancing performance and sustainability of agrotextiles and moderated by Ravi Prakash Singh, SASMIRA- COE Agrotech. Panelists were – Dr P C Tripathi, Principal Scientist- Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), ICAR; Prof Debabrata Maiti, Eliteck Industries (Start-up); Akchaya Kumar Sinha, General Manager – Polymer Marketing, Reliance Industries; and Maya Grushka, Global Product Manager, Tosaf Compounds, Israel.
The fourth session focused on sustainability, circular economy including recycling issues and global benchmarks, which was moderated by Moloy Chandan Chakrabortty, Jute Commissioner. The eminent panelists were – Mahadeb Datta, Dy Director- National Jute Board; Dr Shanmuga Sundaram, Director- RDTE- (I/C), CCRI; and Dr Asha K K, Principal Scientist, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), ICAR.
Last session was moderated by Singh, and Eminent speakers were – Rathinasamy K S, Director-Technical- Enthu Technology Solutions India (Start-up); V K Gupta, Chairman, V K Packwell; and Dr Naved Sabir, Principal Scientist, Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology, IARI.
The exhibition also demonstrated various agrotextile products and their applications, which added value to the delegates and invitees and given opportunity to do networking with user ministry officials and farmers.
