Three-day national seminar on food security gets under way

Agricultural researchers should focus on improving crop productivity by devising better tools and techniques, enhancing the input efficiency and achieving production targets without endangering the resource base, remarked V. Damodara Naidu, Vice-Chancellor of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), on Wednesday.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day national seminar on ‘Futuristic agriculture for sustainable food security at ANGRAU’s Sri Venkateswara Agricultural College here, Dr. Naidu asserted that despite rise in food production, the ongoing pace would not be sufficient to feed the world and there was a threat of world facing food shortage.

“According to the projections by United Nations, the global population is predicted to rise from 7.2 billion to 9.7 billion by 2050 and it is presumed that about 370 million people will remain undernourished, globally, based on the current pace of agricultural production enhancement. Hence, there is an immediate need for affecting substantial changes in the global food system and ensure that the growing population has sustainable access to nutrition,” he maintained.

Major risks

Elucidating on the two major risks associated with long-term sustenance of food security, at a global level, i.e., climate change and increased bio-fuel production, Dr. Naidu stressed on the need for addressing the issues and redesign the food system to ensure availability of nutritious food products to consumers and promote/provide livelihood to farmers. He also said that to enhance crop productivity in the country, comprehensive planning and implementation should be done in the areas such as farm transport and marketing, irrigation, institutional credit, quality inputs, consolidation of land holdings, proper land reforms, agricultural education to all stakeholders, cooperative farming and development of cottage and small-scale industries.

Thrust areas

With respect to the theme of the national seminar, Dr. Naidu urged the participants to focus on thrust areas such as farm mechanisation, soil health management, organic farming, conservation tillage, frontier technologies, sustained crop productivity, extension strategies, smart farming and much more, which would be dealt at length during the three-day seminar.

ANGRAU Dean of Agriculture T. Ramesh Babu, Associate Dean V. Raja Rajeswari, organising secretary A. Pratap Kumar Reddy and others took part in the inaugural session.