Hello,
44% of India works in agriculture but the industry only contributes to only 17% of the GDP. We have seen over the years that it pays less to be a farmer.
With a large number of people increasingly finding agriculture unsexy, farmers continue to trust rain gods over technology, which puts food security in peril.
Despite these uncertainties, India continues to be one of the fastest growing economies. According to Nielsen, 33% of villages account for 80% of rural fast moving consumer goods sales. This means a fair amount of opportunity exists in the “rurban” area and urbanizing villages is a smart way to go forward.
Urbanizing villages and agriculture in addition to new technologies could push boundaries, the Smart Cities program would be the right catalyst for this change. Non-farming jobs in rural India will likely improve too, fulfilling the move up, move out approach.
Stay hungry, Stay foolish.
Anusha and Elizabeth
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the Krishi Unnati Mela promising farmers better incomes and infrastructure by 2022. He also encouraged new methods of income generation by beekeeping, solar farming, organic farming, bamboo cultivation and bio-waste management.
The Ascendancy of Asafoetida
The Economic Times
A century long story of one of the oldest food manufacturers in India, LG & Co, who through consistent quality have made Hing find its way into our plates, culture, wallets and traditions.
Ease of doing Food business
The Hindu; Businessline
In 3 to 5 months the FSSAI will launch a comprehensive e-portal that will focus on registration and licensing of food businesses. It also plans on reclassifying food businesses on the basis of their turnover in line with GST norms.
McDonald’s ain’t Lovin’ it
The Jakarta Post
Growing youth populations have driven up fast food sales. Domino’s and Subway have gained share of the market which is to reach $21.2 Billion this year. Unfortunately, due to franchisee partner disputes, McDonald’s seems to have lost its share of the pie.
In other news:
- Increasing tourist flow into villages in Uttarakhand is encouraging entrepreneurship and sustaining the agro-economy. “Taller, stronger, sharper” , GlaxoSmithKline has put Horlicks on sale.
- A sudden slump in India’s vegetable prices following a spike in farm production will keep RBI from tightening policy until the end of the year, say analysts.
- Even as frozen chicken is under scrutiny in Kolkata the skepticism against live birds may just give way for imports.
- Agricultural cooperation between India and China could reduce trade deficit and fight protectionism.
Originally published at mailchi.mp on March 29th, 2018
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