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Naidu calls for efficient farming
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SME Times News Bureau | 07 Aug, 2020
Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said there is an urgent need
to make agriculture more efficient and profitable to ensure food and
nutrition security.
In a virtual address inaugurating a
conference `Science for Resilient Food, Nutrition and Livelihood:
Contemporary Challenges' Naidu said, "If we are to ensure food and
nutrition security to millions, there is an imminent need to make
agriculture more efficient, resilient, profitable and productive.
Pre-harvest and post-harvest losses have to be minimised."
The conference was organised by the city-based M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).
According
to Naidu, the market infrastructure and the national road and
transportation network must be improved so that farmers are able to get
their produce from the farm gates to markets at reasonable cost.
"We
must step up investments in improved storage, processing and
preservation to retain the nutritional value of food products, rather
than investing in highly processed foods. Food, agriculture and trade
policies have to be constantly reviewed and updated to suit the times,"
Naidu said.
Pointing out the negative health impact owing to poor
diet quality, Naidu said there is need to reorient agriculture
priorities towards more nutrition-sensitive food.
He said diets
of poor quality are a principal contributor to the multiple burdens of
malnutrition -- stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight and
obesity.
Both undernutrition early in life and overweight and
obesity are significant risk factors for non-communicable diseases, he
said.
According to Naidu, there is much to achieve in terms of anticipatory research where one can take proactive action.
"Anticipatory
research, participatory research and translational research (converting
theoretical know-how into field level) are all important. Our
laboratories must be firmly linked to our farms and fields and
technology transfer and farmer education must happen seamlessly," he
remarked.
Naidu also said that India is a treasure trove of traditional wisdom when it comes to agriculture.
"Instead
of rejecting this wisdom as archaic, we must make every attempt to
integrate the best of these techniques into agriculture along with
modern technology," he said.
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