NEWS
2025.01.08
【Report】The 74th AJI Frontier Seminar was held! Sarma Jonali presented “Leveraging the Synergy of Scientific Technology and Agronomic Practices: Exploring the Possibility of Enhancing Community Development in India”
The 74th AJI Frontier Seminar was held online on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. Sarma Jonali, a student of the Doctoral Program in International Relations, GSIR, Ritsumeikan University, Japan, gave a presentation titled “Leveraging the Synergy of Scientific Technology and Agronomic Practices: Exploring the Possibility of Enhancing Community Development in India.”
Sarma Jonali began by explaining that for India, with its rapidly growing population, food security is crucial, and advanced technology has been playing a pivotal role leading to phenomenal growth in agricultural productivity. She explained that Indian agriculture is greatly affected by climatic conditions such as the monsoon, temperature fluctuation, and other issues like heat waves and droughts and the effects of global warming. Meanwhile conventional farming methods and the heavy reliance on staple crops such as rice and wheat make the Indian farming sector vulnerable to pests, diseases, and market fluctuations. She proposed that climate-resilient agriculture could be taught to the farmers to help them to increase their yield in harsh conditions, especially by diversifying crops to maintain soil health, and she further suggested that government intervention could be beneficial for increasing agricultural yield. She gave the example of Maharashtra, where with government assistance, precision agriculture using satellite technology has improved the utilization of water resources and effective cropping in areas with water scarcity and drought-like conditions, enabling farmers to increase their yields. Farmers can also use mobile technology and virtual platforms while working in the fields to increase their productivity.
She remarked that rural poverty, lack of education and resistance to change are obstacles that must be overcome and emphasized the importance of imparting new skills and fostering agribusiness opportunities to empower rural communities. This requires the establishment of local community development centers to build relationships among government agencies, non-profit organizations and self-help groups for the purpose of developing rural agriculture. She stressed that sustainability is the key to realizing development and rural farmers should be made aware of the positive results which have been obtained from initiatives like the application of modern technology and the creation of agri-business zones.
Sarma Jonali’s interesting presentation concluded with a Q&A session where the participants enjoyed an enthusiastic discussion of the actual conditions on the ground in rural India, and farmers’ resistance to the adoption of such advanced farming techniques in rural villages. It was agreed that India should first build institutions that could assist in educating farmers and encouraging them to collaborate through collectives while providing them with subsidies to encourage them. This is an important research topic, as India’s growing population depends on a sustainable food supply, and we encourage Sarma Jonali to continue with this essential study.
Ms. Sarma Jonali making her presentation
Please visit the following link for previous AJI Frontier Seminars:
https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/research/aji/young_researcher/seminar/archive/