Budget 2015 should initiate steps to up private sector’s participation in farming: Vijay Bhambwani, Bsplindia.com

In a chat with ET Now, Vijay Bhambwani, Author & CEO, Bsplindia.com, talks about his expectations from the Budget 2015. Excerpts:

ET Now: What is your sense on the coming budget? Transparency, efficiency, mandi, farmers, fertilisers — are these going to be the keywords?

Vijay Bhambwani: Absolutely. The budget also needs to take steps to ensure increased participation by the private sector in agriculture.

The first important domain where the private players should be engaged is contract farming. It should also assign importance to strengthening the supply chain management.

Private players should be brought into the realm of cold chains, distribution from the farm to shop, etc. They should also be allowed to manage a whole lot of logistics.

This will step up efficiency and plug the leakages. It's because the private sector works with a profit motive, which will automatically result in increased efficiency.