Access to reliable energy can help farmers double their income: Experts

Patancheru: Access to reliable energy will be a key catalyst to transform Indian agriculture section from subsistence to commercial
enterprise, especially for youth.

Energy enables irrigation, charging of mobile phones to access production recommendations and supports processing of produce into
value-added products that when taken together, will enable farmers to double their income by 2022, said Director General of Icrisat Dr
David Bergvinson.

At a press meet on ‘Energy and Agriculture for Smart Villages in India’ at Icrisat on Friday, Smart Villages Initiative leaders and advisors
pointed out that decision-makers and policy-makers have to make some hard choices about the competing opportunities of energy access
in agriculture section and the concept of the “Smart Village” that can act as a catalyst for sustainable development in agriculture for the
neglected group of people called as “the bottom billion”.

Co-leader of the Smart Villages Initiative, Dr John Holmes, said, “Of the 240 million people of India who are not connected to the
national grid of electricity, or are often without reliable energy supply, it principally results in negative impact on agriculture as well as
associated activities of the nation and that are extremely important for the rural economy.”

Talking about the Smart Villages Initiative for India, its advisor Sir Brian Heap said empowering villagers was the vital step for improving
agriculture activities and participatory democracy in the country.

Ashish Tiwari