Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu called for an increase in agricultural research and development spending on Saturday. He also underlined the importance of improving the quality and ability of agricultural research in the country to achieve significant increases in agri-productivity in the long run, while speaking at ICAR – National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) in Hyderabad.
Noting that no advanced country can boost agricultural production without extension operations, Naidu proposed increasing R&D spending, which he described as "less than 1% of our agricultural GDP."
Agricultural researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and scientists were also encouraged by the Vice President to make agriculture climate-resilient, profitable, and sustainable for farmers, as well as to assure food security. He believed that it was the responsibility of agricultural institutions to not only discover new techniques and systems of sustainable production but also to disseminate these innovations to every farmer in the country.
He urged agricultural universities to encourage students to tour villages and learn about real-world farm challenges. Emerging difficulties like water scarcity, climate change, soil degradation, biodiversity loss, new pests and diseases, and farm fragmentation, among others, will make agricultural research even more vital in the future years, according to Naidu.
To address these issues, he proposed a "paradigm shift in our research method" that focuses on technical innovation, human resources, and extension services. He also advised putting money into vital sectors like genomics, molecular breeding, and nanotechnology, among others.
He stressed the necessity of developing skilled labor in secondary and tertiary agriculture to make it viable, saying that trained agri-business graduates can help turn agriculture into a more organized industry by becoming employment suppliers rather than job seekers.
The Vice President stated that farmers should be encouraged to engage in allied activities to reduce the danger of crop failure.
