President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates "Doubling Food Production in Five Years" conference

MUMBAI: Emphasising the need for the nation's food security, the honourable President of India, Shri. Pranab Mukherjee today inaugurated the "Doubling Food Production in Five Years" Conference. The conference has been organised by the Crop Care Federation of India on the background of the rising food prices over last few years that not only burdened the common man and also cast a shadow on the Indian growth rate.

Pranab Mukherjee pointed out that 1% growth in agriculture sector is 2-3 times more effective in reducing poverty than similar growth in any other sector, while emphasising necessity of the proposed Food Bill.

Union Minister for Agriculture, Shri. Sharad Pawar acknowledged that food security is a major concern for the nation. He propagated the need to adopt modern agricultural practices to enhance yields, which included GM crops.

Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri Shrikant Kumar Jena highlighted the role public-private partnerships in achieving the goal of doubling food production in five years. Mr. R.D. Shroff, Chairman, CCFI concurred with this view and promulgated private sector's role across a spectrum of collaborations including seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, finance, and infrastructure amongst others.

The second day's sessions of the conference include panel discussions on cooperation between government and regulatory authorities, role of seeds and GM crops in doubling food production, government policies & post harvest management, Agrochemicals and international experiences in agricultural productivity improvement. Some key panellists for the day comprise of Dr RB Singh, Dr Patrick Moore, Dr Ayyappan (DG ICAR), Dr. Mauricio Antonio Lopes (President, EMBRAPA, Brazil) and renowned economist and professor, Dr. Bibek Debroy (Center for Policy Research), to name a few.

The final day's events include the valedictory function, which will be led by Smt. Sushma Swaraj, MP. This will be followed by felicitations and remarks by renowned speakers from various institutions, thus culminating the conference.