General Assembly General Assembly

 

 

Statement of Hon’ble Agriculture Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar on Food System Summit, 2021

 

(23 September, 2021)

 

Greetings to all.

    I welcome the UN Secretary-General H.E. Mr. Antonio Guterres and all the dignitaries participating in UN Food Systems Summit.

I thank the Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres  for organizing this summit. The issues we discuss today have been made more relevant by contemporary challenges.

 

The COVID pandemic has affected millions of people around the world, and in some countries, it has had an adverse impact on food security and nutritional status.

 

Building resilient food systems that absorb such impacts, by improving food production and access to food, are essential to drive our recovery and get us back on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

 

In India, the agriculture sector has remained unaffected even in the difficult circumstances of the COVID pandemic due to the tireless work of farmers, skills of the scientists and the farmer-friendly policies of the government.

 

In India, the farm operations of sowing of crops, their harvesting and procurement remained un-affected from covid pandemic resulting in bumper harvest. India recorded highest ever food grain production of 308 million tones.

 

India, along with meeting the domestic requirements of food grains is also able to meet the demand of other countries and thus contribute towards ensuring food security in the world.

 

Under the leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the focus of Government of India is on increasing the productivity and all-round measures are being taken to make agriculture profitable in every way.

 

The Government of India believes that food security can be ensured only by raising the standard of living of the farmers and holistic development of the agriculture sector.

 

For this, many historical schemes and programs are being run under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct income support is being provided to the farmers through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. So far, US $15.80 billion have been deposited in the bank accounts of 113.7 million farmers.

 

Ten thousand new Farmer Producer Organizations are being formed. Through these, millions of farmers will work collectively, due to which they will get many facilities, from pre-harvest to selling their produce.

 

While India's public distribution system is largest and unique in the world, our mid-day meal program is also continuing to tackle malnutrition among school children

 

The United Nations has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets on the initiative of India. In this sequence, a two-day Nutri-Grains Conference has also been successfully organized.

 

We are committed to sharing technical expertise to ensure food security in developing countries by promoting sustainable agriculture, ending poverty and hunger, and improving nutrition.

 

Thanks to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for giving the time to speak at the summit.

 

Jai Hind .