November 12, 2010

Indian farming sector urged to battle food security issues

India's farming industry should harness new technologies to tackle food security concerns arising from the burgeoning population and limited farm land in the country, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said.

"There is an increasing pressure on our agricultural land due to a rise in population. We will not succeed in producing more food with traditional farming techniques. We should adopt new technologies," Pawar said.

Like other developed countries, Indian farmers can also improve rice and wheat crop yields with the use of modern technology. For this purpose, the government is ready to help those farmers and associations that are inventing new products to improve the agriculture sector, he said.

Pawar suggested that farmers' body Centre for International Trade in Agriculture (CITA), which has the minister's daughter Supriya Sule as a board member, make a film on low-cost innovative products developed by the 43 farmers in all languages and showcase it to farming communities to encourage large scale adoption.

CITA, in collaboration with the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), has identified various innovative techniques developed by dry land farmers in the country.

A CITA official said, "The meeting with Pawar was organised along with international NGO Oxfam India to bring to the government's notice how small and marginal farmers are yielding good results with low-cost innovative products."