The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry along with NABARD organized the 7th Edition of Rural Connect on the 2nd and 3rd of March at the Williamson Magor Hall in the Bengal Chamber Premises to brainstorm on the possible ways in transforming Agri and Allied sector into Agri− entrepreneurship and ensuring more rural livelihood generation and enhancing rural income.

The conclave started with a Welcome Address by Mr. Jayanta Chakraborty, Chairperson, Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, The Bengal Chamber & Consultant, Indofil Industries Ltd. He said that around 65% of the population of India is in some way or the other connected with agriculture and one cannot think of the country without thinking of agriculture. He added that even agriculture by itself is not enough and we have to think holistically by taking note of the allied sector such as poultry, aquaculture and horticulture.

In his address the Chief Guest Shri Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Government of West Bengal said, "We have a huge interest in helping the farmers' produce organisations. We have to also help them with marketing and have formed a committee involving seven departments to support them."

The special guest, Mr. Shantanu Pendsey, CGM (ABU & GSS), State Bank of India, Corporate Centre, Mumbai in his address applauded the efforts of The Bengal Chamber in bringing all the rural stakeholders under one umbrella in this “farm to fork” initiative. He informed the FPOs about the various schemes offered by SBI. The audience posed many questions to him and many sought his presentation afterwards.

The Guest of Honour Mr. Rishi Nathany, Chief Business Officer, MCX India Ltd talked about protecting farmers as well as keeping inflation within check since giving a higher price to farmer can lead to higher price for end users. According to him, the problem really is wastage due to lack of post− production infrastructure and lack of planning in the production stage itself.

Shri Arobinda Kumar Sarkar, General Manager, NABARD, West Bengal RO, Kolkata said that NABARD has around 320 FPOs in West Bengal out of which around 170 have been formed through funds provided solely by NABARD.

Day 2 focused on deliberations by FPOs and Rural entrepreneurs who shared their best practices and way forward for enhancing rural livelihood. The Chamber also decided to launch several awards for recognizing FPOs, Agri tech companies and Rural Entrepreneurs for their contribution in several areas of agriculture and agri allied sector. The Chamber believes that the award will catalyze their passion which in turn will enhance the rural livelihood. A total of 11 Awards and 24 Certificates were conferred.

The organisations and companies who participated in the event includes NABARD, Indofil, Agriculture Insurance Company of India, MCX, Dehaat, Kosher Climate India Pvt. Ltd. Parallel to the seminar, there was ongoing exhibition and hand−holding by SBI, Krishi Vikas Udyog, IFFCO, SwitchOn Foundation, Hansaria Food, LIC and Canara Bank. Also, over 50 FPOs from all parts of West Bengal, Agri−startups, Agri tech companies and rural entrepreneurs participated in the conclave.