India-JICA Collaboration: Enhancing Farm Sector Development

New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) Agriculture secretary Devesh Chaturvedi on Friday pitched for further collaboration between India and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in farm and allied sectors.

The JICA has expressed interest in collaborating for integration of cutting-edge technologies like drones and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Indian agriculture.

According to an official statement, Takuro Takeuchi, Chief Representative of JICA India, paid a courtesy visit to the agriculture secretary here.

Chaturvedi congratulated Takeuchi on his recent appointment as JICA Chief Representative in India and expressed optimism for deepening collaboration between India and JICA in agriculture and allied sectors.

The secretary emphasised the critical role of states in advancing India's agricultural development, noting that three ongoing JICA-assisted projects are currently being implemented in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana.

He said there is a potential for further collaborative projects in other states.

Chaturvedi reiterated the Prime Minister's vision of positioning India as a global food basket. He outlined three key priorities for modernising Indian agriculture: expanding export-oriented value-added horticulture products to access global markets; incentivising precision agriculture through IoT (Internet of Things) and AI; and developing robust digital public infrastructure.

The secretary underscored that these focus areas are essential for building a resilient, competitive and modernised agricultural sector.

"Takeuchi conveyed JICA's commitment to promoting sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture, enhancing productivity, supporting crop diversification and advancing the application of new agricultural technologies such as controlled environment agriculture.

"He expressed particular interest in collaborating on technical cooperation, policy lending and the integration of cutting-edge technologies like drones and AI," the statement said.

The meeting also highlighted opportunities for expanding research and educational collaboration through student exchanges between Indian and Japanese universities as well as capacity-building programmes to enhance skills and knowledge in project states.