Maharashtra’s Agriculture Department on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the American government through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Foreign Agricultural Service to give the State’s farmers access to data on market information, enhancing agricultural value chains and facilitating agribusiness investment.
Agriculture Minister Dadaji Bhuse said, “The campaign ‘Vikel te Pikel’ — ‘Produce that can be sold’ — is being implemented in the State for assured market for the produce. As part of that, the Hon. Balashaeb Thackeray Agribusiness and Rural Transformation (SMART) Project is implemented with the help of the World Bank. The project is to support the development of inclusive and competitive agri-business value chains with focus on small holder farmers.”
He said as a part of SMART project, the Agriculture Department with the help of the USDA will increase the capacity of the State machinery in agriculture statistics, marketing, market intelligence, organising commodity stewardship council etc.
The MoU will provide a framework for technical cooperation in the development of market information systems and potential collaboration in other areas. Through this MoU, the USDA will aid Maharashtra’s efforts to support farmers by enhancing agricultural value chains, facilitating agribusiness investment and developing resilient production systems.
Bilateral capacity-building effort
Consul General David J. Ranz, said, “This MoU represents the most ambitious bilateral capacity-building effort between the USDA and an Indian government entity to date. Maharashtra is an agricultural powerhouse, as is the United States, and we play an important role ensuring global food security, as well as meeting growing demand for fiber and fuel. This MoU demonstrates our commitment to enhancing farmer welfare and making our agricultural production systems more efficient and sustainable through the sharing of best practices and skills.”
The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is an agency of the U.S. government that links its agriculture to the world to enhance export opportunities and global food security. For over 20 years, the FAS has been training Indian officials and agricultural professionals through its Cochran and Borlaug Fellowship Programs.
