India has the capacity to meet the food requirements of a large part of the world: Narendra Singh Tomar
Increasing productivity is necessary to
maintain high food grain production: Union Agriculture Minister
Union Agriculture Minister virtually addresses the FICCI's conference ‘Leeds
2022’
The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra
Singh Tomar has said that India, apart from being self-sufficient in food
production, has the capacity to meet the food requirements of a large part of
the world. Keeping in mind the needs and challenges of the future, the country
is moving ahead with strategic plans, he said. We are aware that to sustain
high food grain production, we have to increase productivity too. He said that
incorporating new farming technology, sharing it with farmers and better
irrigation system will reduce the cost of agriculture production and also
result in increased production and productivity of food grains. Tomar said that
everyone’s cooperation is required, so that income of our farmers increases and
we continue to contribute for the food security of the country and of the world.
Tomar was virtually addressing
the ‘Leeds-2022 conference’ organized by Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (FICCI). In the session on ‘Food for All: Farm to Fork’, Tomar
said that despite the Corona pandemic, India's agriculture sector has witnessed
a significant achievement of 3.9% growth rate. Also, our agricultural exports
crossed Rs 4 lakh crore mark, which we have to keep increasing.
Agriculture
Minister said that with the world population projected to be around 900 crore
by the year 2050, the demand for food will increase rapidly, resulting in
increase in demand for agricultural land, grazing land for livestock and
fertilizers and genetically modified crops. He said that under the leadership
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, agriculture has expanded significantly in the
country in recent years. We have emerged as the second largest food producer in
the world, he said. India’s geography, climate and soils are very diverse, so
it is naturally excellent in producing a wide range of agricultural
commodities. Tomar said that we can grow more crops than any other nation.
India has the highest cropping density in the world. According to the fourth
advance estimate, India's foodgrain production in the year 2021-22 is 315.72 MT.
Tomar said that to make India self-reliant (Atma Nirbhar
)and internationally competitive, Government is continuously working for growth
of small farmers. Many important schemes are being implemented in this direction,
so that agricultural challenges can be reduced and the income of the farmers
can be increased. Along with this, India is fast on its journey to become world
leader in the agriculture sector. He said that the agriculture industry in
India is expected to gain further momentum in the coming years due to increased
investment in agriculture infrastructure including irrigation systems, storage
and cold storages. Additionally, the increased use of genetically modified
crops is also expected to increase the yields of Indian farmers. Tomar said
that under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, the target of the Central
Government is to invest more than Rs. 70,000 crore in the fisheries sector by
the year 2024-25. The government expects to increase fish production to 220
lakh tonnes by 2024-2025.
The Union Minister said that the PLI scheme for Food
Processing is being implemented with an incentive of Rs 10,900 crore in the
next 6 years, at the same time, under the Krishi Udan scheme, assistance and
incentives are being provided for the movement of agricultural products by air
transport, which is especially beneficial for the Northeast and tribal areas.
Farmers, freight forwarders and airlines are benefiting from this. Digital Agri
Mission has also been started. Technology will increase transparency, so that
farmers will get full benefits of all the schemes. Drone technology is also
being promoted. The more technology and transparency in agriculture increases,
the more profit will be there. Tomar said that National Oil Palm Mission has
been started with the expenditure of Rs 11,000 crores. He said, under the
leadership of India, International Year of Millets will be celebrated next
year, the preparations for which are in full swing.
New Zealand's Minister of Trade and Export Development,
Agriculture, Biosecurity, Land Information and Rural Communities, Damian
O'Connor, and industry representatives and others were present at the
conference.