Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Agriculture Minister addressed the 39th session of Conference of Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Monday at Rome, Italy and shared Indian experiences in agricultural development, claims a PIB release.
Speaking on the occasion Mr Singh congratulated FAO on successfully completing 70 dedicated years in the service of the poor, marginalised and hungry. He also congratulated Mr.Graziano da Silva on his election as DG, FAO for a second term a couple of days back.
This conference would, I am sure, serve as the primary global platform for sharing development experiences and knowledge from different countries. I am sure the deliberations here and the outcomes would strengthen FAO in fulfilling its mandate of achieving food and nutritional security for all, he said
India has to support 17% of the world’s population on just 2.4% of its geographical area and we are conscious of our need for sustainable agricultural development keeping the interest of future generations in mind. Agriculture continues to be a vital component of India’s economy contributing over 16 per cent of India’s GDP in 2014-15 and providing employment to the majority (55%) of its population. Indian agriculture has achieved self sufficiency and today takes pride in not only meeting the needs of our population but also playing a major role in agricultural trade, added Mr Singh.
He touched upon several issues such as India is one among the 15 leading exporters of agricultural products in the world, Indian farmers have began to switch from food-grains to more remunerative and high value crops as well as horticulture and livestock, combated the adverse impact of declining international commodity prices by encouraging public investment in agriculture, targeted support to farmers at large and women and small scale family farmers in particular, marginalised and vulnerable sections of the society and the poor through rationalization of subsidies
In keeping with UN declaration of 2015 as the Year of Soils, and understanding the need to conserve the most primary source of production – soil, we have launched new measures to provide Soil Health Cards to all farmers in the country in a time bound manner. This countrywide exercise in which we intend issuing more than 14 crores cards over a period of 3 years will go a long way in further increasing the production and productivity of Indian agriculture, he added.
At the same time, National Food Security Act has been enacted with the objective of providing food and nutritional security to all by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices. There is no doubt that sustaining an overall agricultural growth rate of about 4 percent over long years is a major challenge, he remarked.
FAO remains the premier knowledge depository and partner for its member states in addressing the emerging challenges in agricultural development. It provides us with the platform for knowledge sharing and technical support however, FAO’s role in India and other such Middle Income Countries needs to be reworked and a symbiotic relationship established for an effective partnership ahead, Radha Mohan concluded.