Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals offering farm management service to big landowners

NEW DELHI: To help big landowners who whose farm land is lying idle, Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals ( ISAP) has started offering farm management services to put to use such land on a pilot basis in Uttar Pradesh.

The city-based agri-professionals' body ISAP is also in talks with corporates and social bodies to put in active use huge acres of their unused agricultural land.

This is a new farm service being introduced in India though at present there are individual consultants advising big farmers in states like Punjab.

"We have tied up with a client in Mathura to manage 25 acres of farm land for one year. It is a commercial focused consultancy delivering a results-based approach," ISAP CEO Sudarshan Suryawanshi said.

As per the pact, the fixed cost will be borne by landowners, while the operational expenses will be taken care by ISAP. The profit will be shared with the client, he said.

Suryawanshi said: "In our country, there are huge acres of farm lands with industrialists and institutions, who are not farming themselves and neither given out on lease to other farmers. We decided to offer services tailored to such clients so that farm land is put to use."

The company is looking at providing farm services to only those landlowners having more than 25 acres of farm land in any part of the counry, he said.

The company will use professional hands-on business approach and handle the operation of the farm including planning the crop rotation, purchasing supplies, marketing the crops and supervising land improvements, he added.

ISAP is also in talks with another client in Madhya Pradesh and is also discussing with various corporates and social bodies in this regard.

The agri-professional body is also advising farmers in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka - to successfully run the 'Farmers Producers Companies', which the government is promoting in a big way.