Chandigarh
29 November 2018
DIVYA AZAD
Mr B Thiagarajan, Joint Managing Director, Blue Star Ltd and also the Chairman of ‘States of India’ Pavilion, CII Agro Tech India 2018, being organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), today announced that the premier industry body will host the 13th edition of India’s premier integrated Agri Fair, CII Agro Tech India 2018, at Parade Ground, Sector 17, Chandigarh, from 1 to 4 December, 2018.
CII Agro Tech India 2018 is India’s premier biennial agro technology and business fair with 195 exhibitors, including 37 foreign exhibitors from as many as 8 countries this year. “We are proud that countries like Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom and the USA are participating,” said Mr Thiagarajan. “Punjab and Haryana will be the Host States for the four-day international agricultural expo”, he added.
The Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), and the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, are Partner Ministries for CII Agro Tech India 2018.
Addressing media persons here today, Mr B Thiagarajan said, “The 13th edition of CII Agro Tech India 2018 is one of the biggest confluences of stakeholders from agriculture and allied sectors. I am happy to share that Shri Ram Nath Kovind, Hon’ble President of India will inaugurate the mega international agricultural fair on December 1, at the Parade Ground. Among other prominent dignitaries who would be attending the inaugural session include Punjab Governor Shri V P Singh Badnore, Haryana Governor Shri Satyadev Narain Arya, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
In the last edition of Agro Tech held in 2016, two Heads of the States – Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Hon’ble President of India and H E Mr Reuven Rivlin, Hon’ble President of Israel, had come together to inaugurate the fair.
“The coming together of 8 countries makes CII Agro Tech India 2018 a truly international platform to showcase agricultural advancement. It highlights the growing importance of agriculture and food processing sector in India as well as the fact that CII Agro Tech India is becoming a global platform”, he added.
He said CII has adopted the theme ‘Technology in Agriculture: Increasing Farmers Income’ for CII Agro Tech India 2018, as CII is focusing on Technology Intervention in a big way during this edition.
Mr. Thiagarajan said, CII Agro India is known for ‘best’ and the ‘next’ in agriculture, food and livestock. He said the fair will showcase and demonstrate innovative solutions, besides forging national and international business partnerships and display of state-of-the-art equipment.
Giving the fair details he said the exhibition will be spread over 16,000 sqm and there will be domestic exhibitors from 14 states with two special pavilions of States of India and International. More than 40,000 farmers are expected to visit the fair which would also comprise Kisan Goshthees and international conferences. He further elaborated, there will be concurrent shows including, Good Earth, Food Expo, Food Tech, Farm Tech, Dairy and Livestock, Implementex, Farm Services and Irrigation and Water.
Giving details of CII Agro Tech India 2018, Mr Sanjay Chhabra, Chairman, Good Earth, CII Agro Tech India 2018 & President & Business Head Shriram Farm Solutions DCM Shriram Ltdshared, “This edition of CII Agro Tech event will play a pivotal role in creating a common platform for the farmer community to engage with the industry to explore, learn and adopt new and emerging technologies and farming practices aimed at improving overall productivity and consequently rural income. Apart from large domestic participation, this year CII Agro Tech 2018 has significant presence of international players in food processing and agriculture sector. We have also envisaged several theme-based conferences & country specific sessions to build capacity and capability in Indian Farming Sector.”
Mr. Chhabra said CII has also scheduled a roundtable with progressive farmers on doubling farmers’ income. The objective is to come out with a roadmap and clear action plan for all the stakeholders to work towards achieving the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister India to double the farmers’ income in next 5 years.
He further added, UK is a partner country at CII Agrotech this year. Some of the products and services that will be launched at the show includes electronic smart watering systems; environmentally safe water disinfectants that keep irrigation and water lines free from harmful bacteria; kits that can detect Tuberculosis and Johne’s disease from cow’s milk samples; pig genetics; bovine sexed and conventional genetics; agricultural software enterprise platforms; consultancy services on refrigeration, cold storage, factory design and precision agriculture; sustainable cooling solutions that can prolong shelf life of products; and sustainable packaging solutions.
