Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar said that the Government of India has emphasized on re-introducing traditional food items including millet, other nutritious cereals, fruits and vegetables, fish, dairy and organic products in the diet of the people. Their production has been phenomenal in recent years and India is becoming a destination country for healthy food items.
Tomar said this during the second day’s session of the G-20 Agriculture Ministers’ meeting. The theme of this session was “Working together to achieve the Zero Hunger goal: successful projects implemented by the Ministries of Agriculture”.
In his virtual address at the meeting, Tomar said that keeping in mind the importance of Nutri-cereals, the United Nations has accepted the proposal of the Government of India and declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets. He appealed to the nations to support the celebrations of the Millet Year to promote nutrition and sustainable agriculture.
Tomar stated that the agriculture sector in India has achieved great success after independence. The sector remained unaffected even during the COVID pandemic. The Minister expressed happiness that various initiatives of the Government of India to keep the Agri-market dynamic along with the Agri-input supply chain during COVID have helped the agriculture sector perform better.
‘Biofortified-varieties are the source of a staple diet rich in micronutrients. They are being promoted to remove malnutrition. 17 such varieties of different crops have been developed and released for cultivation”, stressed Tomar.
Talking of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, Tomar informed that so far, Rs 1.58 lakh crore has been deposited in the bank accounts of more than 11.37 crore farmers under this scheme.
Tomar said that India will share best practices and build the capacities of other developing countries. He reiterated India’s resolve to continue working together to achieve the ‘Poverty Reduction’ and ‘Zero Hunger Goals. He also reiterated India’s resolve to cooperate in R&D and exchange of best practices to enhance productivity.
Union Minister Tomar led a four-member Indian delegation to the G20 Ministerial meeting. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting was organized in hybrid mode. The Indian Delegation included Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Joint Secretary Ms. Alaknanda Dayal and Dr. B. Rajender.