Shri Suresh Prabhu, Hon'ble Minister of Commerce & Industry,
Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Founder, MS Swaminathan Foundation,
Dr. Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji, Hon'ble former Prime Minister of Bhutan,
Prof. Rudy Rabbinge, Special Envoy, Government of Netherlands,
Dr. R.B. Singh, Former Chancellor, Central Agricultural University and Chairman,
Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General, Indian Council for Agricultural Research,
Shri Salil Singhal, Chairman, Emeritus,
Dr. Purvi Mehta, Asia Lead – Agri, Gates Foundation,
Shri Alok Sinha, Director General, Indian Council of Food & Agriculture,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great joy to address you all this evening at the function to initiate the Swaminathan Global Dialogue on Climate Change and Food Security.
Let me at the outset, compliment the Indian Council of Food and Agriculture for taking up this initiative to highlight the importance of Agriculture in ensuring Food Security in the world. As a person hailing from the farming community in rural Tamil Nadu, I had no hesitation in accepting the invitation to attend this meeting, since
I consider sharing of ideas on agriculture as a vital input towards the welfare of our nation.
As we all know, Agriculture is not just an occupation, but the strongest tool for human survival. At a time when we are about to complete the second decade in the 21st century, we are faced with the reality that around 793 million people in the world are undernourished and that nearly 155 million children below five years of age suffer from stunted growth. Since the lack of food security is a key reason for such a situation, it is certain that these figures would have been much smaller, if we had truly strengthened the global agriculture sector.
We should also consider the fact that the share of aid to agricultural activity in most of the nations has not increased considerably. Besides, agriculture has also been battling the pressures of climate change, population explosion and a general feeling that it is economically unprofitable.
We have seen how India achieved a certain level of food security through great efforts like the Green Revolution in food production, White Revolution in milk, Blue Revolution in fisheries and the Golden Revolution in horticulture production. The Green Revolution, which was led by stalwarts like
Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, strengthened India's capability to fight against hunger and malnutrition. These revolutions also made us capable of helping the developing world with our experiences and diversity of learning.
Today, though India is the leading producer of many agricultural commodities, food and nutritional security for the rising population remains a challenge. Our granaries may be overflowing, but we are threatened by the post-harvest losses of around 15 percent in fruits and vegetables and 10.5 percent in fisheries. Such losses are certainly not desirable in a country where poverty still exists. We can also imagine the plight of the ordinary farmer, who never gets the right prices on account of such wastage.
While we discuss food security and Climate change, we cannot ignore the impact of an unsteady climate on the life and fortunes of the farmers. Today, our monsoon cycles have been badly altered due to rising temperature and erratic climatic phenomena. These factors have in many ways affected agricultural production and productivity. Of course, schemes like Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana(PMFBY) are now providing crop damage insurance for Kharif and rabi crops as well as annual commercial and horticultural crops. But, we need to assess the levels to which crop insurance schemes address the specific issues faced by farmers in certain localities.
Stagnation in crop yields, outbreak of epidemics and emergence of new pests and diseases also have reduced profitability in agriculture. I need not describe how an unprecedented flood has nearly wiped out agriculture in Kerala, where we were slowly regaining a lost tradition of organic farming through the Haritha Keralam Mission.
The availability of water is another issue. We cannot ignore the fact that India, which has 18 percent of the world's population, has only 4 percent of the Earth's renewable water. In some States, water is a scarce commodity for agriculture. We have to respect water as a sustainer of ecosystems and must think of using new varieties of crops and seeds that would require lesser amounts of water in places facing scarcity of water. We also cannot ignore soil erosion, which has resulted in 12 million tonnes of top soil being washed away, affecting the fertility of nearly 150 million hectares of land.
Considering all these, there has to be a sea-change from our current form of agriculture to sustainable means of farming with little harm to environment. For a food and nutrition-secure India, we need to turn our attention to the crops that are more productive, nutritious and sustainable. An example is that of Millets, which is a power house of nutrients; unfortunately, we had neglected it in our quest for intensive agriculture.
In this connection, I am glad to inform you that Kerala had formulated a special scheme last year to promote the cultivation of millets by setting up a millet village at Attappady, a tribal area, with a view to protecting seeds of traditional varieties of millets and ensuring food security and livelihood. The Kerala Agricultural University has also been supporting farmers who are protecting high yield varieties of traditional crops. In fact, last year I had honored 17 farmers of Kerala who won the Genome-protection awards.
The agriculture of the future must rely on environmentally sound practices to negate the effects of climate change. Agriculture must also use technologies that depend on ecologically sound and responsible principles. While talking of the adoption of technologies, we also cannot ignore the need to encourage entrepreneurship in agriculture. Through adequate skill development, we could raise an army of agri-preneurs who would prove agriculture to be profitable.
To ensure such measures, we require global cooperation and constant interactions. Indian Council of Food and Agriculture can play a very important role in bringing together the global community to deliberate on this burning issue and to develop a blue print for a sustainable agriculture which would ensure food security.
I am certain that the eminent speakers, experts and the distinguished delegates who are participating in Swaminathan Global Dialogueon Climate Change and Food Security will evolve a plan and share ideas and approaches that can address the twin problems of climate change and food security. I wish the deliberations all success.
I also compliment the organizers for conducting this function in a befitting manner.
Thank You
Jai Hind
