FAO honours PM with Agricola Award
UN body Food and Agriculture Organisation has conferred its highest distinction Agricola Award on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his contribution to agriculture and social development.
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: UN body Food and Agriculture Organisation on Thursday conferred its highest distinction Agricola Award on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his contribution to agriculture and social development.
Singh is the first Indian Prime Minister to receive the highest honour from the FAO.
"I am deeply honoured and humbled by the Agricola Award conferred on me...This award is a recognition of the work done for the development of agriculture and of our farmers by a vast number of agencies and individuals in our country," he said after receiving the award.
In a function here, FAO Director General Jacques Diouf presented the award to Singh. He highlighted that India is the world's second largest agricultural producer, with farm sector employing over 60 per cent of the population and accounting for almost 20 per cent of GDP.
"With your deep understanding of Indian economy, you (Singh) have made modernising and revitalisation of your country's agriculture sector as one of your highest priorities," Diouf said.
Showering praise on Singh, Diouf said "You have shown exemplary resolve in pursuing these objectives and carrying through a series of measures that include raising the flow of credit by 80 per cent to the farmers in the past four years,".
Diouf highlighted other initiatives like National Horticulture Mission and National Food Security Mission taken by the Indian government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Other recepients of the Agricola award, which was instituted in 1976, include former French President Jacques Chirac, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Pope John Paul II.
Singh is the first Indian Prime Minister to receive the highest honour from the FAO.
"I am deeply honoured and humbled by the Agricola Award conferred on me...This award is a recognition of the work done for the development of agriculture and of our farmers by a vast number of agencies and individuals in our country," he said after receiving the award.
In a function here, FAO Director General Jacques Diouf presented the award to Singh. He highlighted that India is the world's second largest agricultural producer, with farm sector employing over 60 per cent of the population and accounting for almost 20 per cent of GDP.
"With your deep understanding of Indian economy, you (Singh) have made modernising and revitalisation of your country's agriculture sector as one of your highest priorities," Diouf said.
Showering praise on Singh, Diouf said "You have shown exemplary resolve in pursuing these objectives and carrying through a series of measures that include raising the flow of credit by 80 per cent to the farmers in the past four years,".
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Diouf highlighted other initiatives like National Horticulture Mission and National Food Security Mission taken by the Indian government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Other recepients of the Agricola award, which was instituted in 1976, include former French President Jacques Chirac, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Pope John Paul II.
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