NEW DELHI: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday expressed concern over " galloping population " in India, saying it's unfortunate that political parties are shy of discussing the issue which has widespread ramifications .

"In a country like India with a galloping population, unfortunately nobody is paying attention to the issue of population. Political parties are feeling shy, politicians are feeling shy, Parliament also does not adequately discuss about the issue," said Naidu while addressing the 58th convocation of Indian Agricultural Research Institute ( IARI ).

He said, "You know how population is growing leaps and bounds, creating problems. See the problems in Delhi. Traffic, more human beings, more vehicles, more problems more tension, less attention. If you have tension you cannot pay attention."

Last week Shiv Sena's Anil Desai moved a private member's bill for mandatorily pegging at 2 the number of children a couple can have.

Emphasising the need to increase food production to meet demand of growing population, Naidu said, "In future if population increases like this, and you are not able to adequately match it with increase in production, there will be problem".

He also said policy makers must find an answer as to why India was still at 102nd rank in the Global Hunger Index.

"While the position on food front is comfortable with a total food grain production of 283.37 million tonnes, India, however, ranks at 102nd in the Global Hunger Index. The alarming prevalence of malnutrition and hidden hunger are matters of grave concern," he said.

"I am told that more than 80% of adolescents in India suffer from hidden hunger. This problem has to be addressed on a war footing as youth are the backbone of the nation," said the Vice President.

Urging scientists to serve the nation through scientific advancements and innovations in agriculture, he asked institutions like IARI to utilise technological advancements to improve the life of farmers and ensure that their research reaches the farm.

The Vice President talked about judicious use of fertilisers and pesticides, and also emphasised on crop diversification, food processing, storage and value addition to boost farmers income.

