By IANS
New Delhi : The government is taking necessary steps to ramp up investments in the agricultural sector with various incentives, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said here Saturday.
According to a ministry statement, Pawar also said the government was taking adequate policy and regulatory measures to strengthen forward and backward linkages in the marketing sector.
Enlisting the steps taken by the government to support the agricultural sector, Pawar said taxes on processed food have already been reduced and a number of Agricultural Export Promotion Zones (AEZs) have been established, besides allowing foreign direct investment in food processing and single brand retailing.
The minister, who was speaking at the inauguration of a workshop on 'Contract Farming: Methods and Experiences', also expressed his satisfaction over the fact that Indian business conglomerates like Reliance and Bharti are venturing in agricultural business and will help in realising the sector's full potential.
Pawar also highlighted the growing demand of high-value and processed food products and said that it will only grow upwards with the growth of the economy, rising incomes, rapid urbanization and changing needs of consumers along with the access to other large global markets.