Animal husbandry will provide food security: official
Animal husbandry is making profit in the country and if managed well, along with sustainable agriculture, it could provide food security for India and other countries in the years to come, chairman of Krishi Mission S A Patil said on Wednesday.
At the inauguration of a programme organised to mark World Food Day by the Karnataka Veterinary Council and Bidar-based Karnataka Veterinary Animal and Fisheries Sciences University here, he said agriculture is a profitable profession. “We earn `20,000 crore through the export of basmati rice,” he added.
“There is a particular wild plant called Akarki in Gulbarga. It is drought tolerant. It could be introduced in the world market along the likes of celery. Our minor millets are the father of oats. They must be popularised in the international market as beneficial foods of India,” he said.
According to him, the consumption of milk, eggs, meat and fish is increasing in India. “Cow dung and urine are good manures for pomegranate cultivation that needs no chemical and can be sold as an organically grown fruit for a high revenue,” he said.
The theme for World Food Day this year is Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition.
Dr R B Singh, chairman of National Agriculture Academy of Science, New Delhi,
said the country needs a new vision for agriculture with crops that are gene smart - varieties that are genetically resistant/tolerant to drought/ flood conditions and other extreme conditions and possess high productivity; weather smart - crops grown based on seasonal weather forecasts; water smart - grown on water from rainwater harvesting, community management of water; carbon smart - through agro-forestry, conservation tillage, land use systems; nitrogen smart - grown for site-specific nutrient management, precision fertilisers, catch cropping/legumes and off-farm risk management.