Aatmanirbhar Bharat in agriculture can provide food for all in the world: Tomar

Asserting India has the potential to become "aatmnirbhar" in agriculture and also meet the food requirements of the world, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar invited the international community to join hands for the purpose.

"We would like to collaborate. I use this opportunity to invite the international community to join hands with us for the benefit of coming generations," he said in his address at the session "Food for All: From Farm to Fork" at the 3rd edition of "LEADS 2022" - a global thought leadership initiative of industry chamber FICCI.

Noting that country's agri exports had crossed the milestone of Rs 4 lakh crore, he said: "We are working to increase it further."

Tomar said that the government is constantly working to make the country "aatmnirbhar", and as a result, Indian agriculture recorded a robust growth of 3.9 per cent despite the pandemic.

In addition, he reiterated that the government aims to make Indian agriculture internationally competitive by aiding the small farmers in the country, and listed several government programmes to reduce farming-related challenges.

"Due to an increase in investment in basic infrastructures like irrigation systems, storage, warehousing, and cold storage, Indian agriculture is expected to record robust growth in the coming years," he added.

FICCI President Sanjiv Mehta said achieving food and nutrition security is a multifaceted challenge.

"Food systems can play a big role in protecting food security and nutrition if careful attention is paid to targeting the poor, reducing inequalities, including gender inequality and incorporating nutrition goals and actions were relevant," he said.