Smallholder quality penalty presented at WITFOR in New Delhi by Harsha de Silva

LIRNEasia > Themes > Inclusive Agriculture

Smallholder quality penalty presented at WITFOR in New Delhi by Harsha de Silva

Posted on April 19, 2012 / 1 Comments

Theme: Can ICT benefit the small farmers? “Putting Farmers First”

Chair: Mr. Vikas Nath, Associate Director, Future of the United Nations Project, Switzerland

Speakers:

Dr. Harsha de Silva, Member of Parliament, Consultant Lead Economist, LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka
Can ICT benefit small farmers? Tackling Smallholder Quality Penalty |Presentation |

Ms. Aurelia Bondari, Executive Director, National AGROinform Federation, Moldova

Dr. T.P. Trivedi, Assistant Director General, Indian Council for Agricultural Research, India

Dr. Raj Saravanan, Associate Professor, Central Agricultural University, Meghalaya, India

Link to program.

1 Comment

Sriganesh Lokanathan
April 22, 2012, 3:58 pm
These were Harsha’s observations regarding the session:

This was the first time the perennial allegation of the small farmer not being paid ‘fair’ price was looked at from a Smallholder Quality Penalty (SQP) angle and there was general agreement on the presented economic analysis.

There was a lively discussion on assessing quality; in particular who’s responsibility it is to provide the correct extension services to farmers to ensure ‘good’ quality. Opinion was divided in the middle; some arguing for totally free services to be provided by government extension offices while others for private delivery and public-private-partnerships.