Spotlight on ancient Indian agriculture wisdom

VARANASI: With focus on millets, the 12th Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) under India’s G20 presidency will be deliberating on the theme of sustainable agriculture and food systems for the health of people and the planet.
Ahead of hosting three-day G20 MACS from Monday, secretary (department of agriculture research education) and director general (Indian Council of Agriculture Research) Dr Himanshu Pathak said in a message that focused discussion will be on the MAHARISHI initiative to uphold research on millets and other ancient grains at global level. The international initiative will focus on research and awareness with agro-biodiversity, food security, and nutrition aligning with the International Year of Millets 2023.
“Agriculture is the foundation of civilisation, culture and heritage of India”, said Pathak, adding, “Indian agriculture is unique, diversified, providing livelihood to more than half of our population. During the last 75 years, the country has marched from ship-to-mouth to self-sufficient and has finally become a food exporting nation. It achieved science and policy-backed agri-revolutions including green, white, blue, yellow, golden, silver, brown, grey and rainbow revolutions which transformed Indian agriculture. Food production increased 70 times since 1950 with only 1.3 times increase in the net cultivated area”, said Pathak.
The G20 MACS) will be instrumental in promoting joint action to put science-based solutions for achieving sustainable, resilient and profitable agri-food systems, he said, adding that it provides a good platform for discussion, deliberations and exchange of knowledge, science and technologies for food and nutrition security and for strengthening cooperation among the G20 nations.
In consonance with India’s G20 Presidency theme of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’, he said, the MACS will pursue discussion on food and nutrition security, resilience to climate change, One Health approaches, digital agriculture, and public-private partnerships for research, education and extension.
The theme of four priority areas on which focused discussion will take place include food security and nutrition—role of frontiers in science and technology; building resilience and sustainable agriculture through approaches of climate resilient agriculture and one health; digitalization for agricultural transformation, and finally public-private partnerships for research and development.
In these areas, options will be explored of G20 countries coming together to help share science-based technological and innovative solutions, he said, adding, the event will provide new opportunities of collaboration in research, education and extension in the field of agriculture to strengthen the G20 forum for international economic cooperation.