New Delhi: Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar presented the progress report of Indian Agriculture at the G-20 Agriculture Ministers' meeting in Florence. The G-20 meeting themed "Working together to achieve the Zero Hunger goal: successful projects implemented by the Ministries of Agriculture" was held virtually on Sunday.
Addressing the virtual meeting, Union Minister said that the Government of India has emphasized re-introducing traditional food items including millet, other nutritious cereals, fruits and vegetables, fish, dairy and organic products in the diet of the people. Singh said adding that their production has been phenomenal in India in recent years and the country is becoming a destination for healthy food items.
Speaking on the second day's session of the G-20 Agriculture Ministers' meeting, Singh said that 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 citizens to support the celebration of Millet Year to promote nutrition and sustainable agriculture.
The Minister expressed happiness that the various initiatives of the Centre to keep the agri-market dynamic along with the agri-input supply chain during COVID has helped the agriculture sector to deliver better performance and kept it unaffected even during the pandemic. During the year 2020-2021, along with an increase in the production of food grains, there has been a significant increase in exports, he added.
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Tomar said that biofortified-varieties are the source of a staple diet rich in micronutrients and it should be promoted to remove malnutrition. So far 17 such varieties of different crops have been developed and released for cultivation.
He further said that India will share best practices and build capacities of other developing countries. He reiterated India's resolve to continue working together to achieve the ‘Poverty Reduction’ and ‘Zero Hunger Goal. 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. The Delegation included Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Joint Secretary Alaknanda Dayal and B. Rajender.
Tomar also informed that under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, the government is providing income support of Rs.6,000 per year to small farmers. So far, Rs 1.58 lakh crore has been deposited in the bank accounts of more than 11.37 crore farmers under this scheme. He added that India is fully aware of its commitments on the issues of climate change and several steps have been taken to make agriculture sustainable. The 'Per Drop- More Crop' scheme for irrigation and 'Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana' for organic farming is being successfully implemented.
Unfavourable weather affects the production and income of the farmers, in such a situation, the Central government has implemented the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana to provide insurance cover for the farmers. To address the malnutrition problem, India is running the world's largest food-based safety net program, which includes the Public Distribution System and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, he added.
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