
HYDERABAD: Expressing his strong belief that the ‘fusion approach’ being taken by India is the best way to address several issues in agriculture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India’s policy of a fusion of ‘back to basics’ and ‘march to future’ has been promoting natural farming as well as technology-enabled farming, resulting in the farmers across the country taking up natural farming.
Virtually addressing the Agriculture Ministers as part of the G20 Agriculture Working Group meetings being held at Novotel, HICC, Madhapur on Friday, Modi asserted that India’s G20 priorities in agriculture focused on healing our ‘One Earth,’ creating harmony within our ‘One Family’ and giving hope for a bright ‘One Future.’
He said that the farmers practising natural farming were not using synthetic fertilisers or pesticides, and their focus has been on rejuvenating the mother earth, protecting soil health, producing ‘per drop, more crop,’ and promoting organic fertilisers and pest management solutions.
The PM pointed out how farmers have been using technology to boost productivity, generating and using solar power in their farms, using soil health cards to optimise crop selection, and using drones to spray nutrients and monitor their crops.
Explaining how due to the influence of markets and marketing the value of traditionally grown food crops like millets has been lost, Modi appealed to the world to embrace “Shri Anna Millets as the food of our choice,” as 2023 was being celebrated as the International Year of the Millets.
Opining that the traditional practices from different parts of the world could inspire us to develop alternatives for regenerative agriculture, the PM emphasised the need to empower the farmers with innovation and digital technology and to make solutions affordable for small and marginal farmers in the Global South, where 60% jobs were in the agriculture sector.
He said that the responsibilities of an agriculture minister were not only limited to handling one sector of the economy but also extended towards securing the future of humanity. He urged the Agriculture Ministers to deliberate on how to undertake collective action to achieve global food security, find ways to build a sustainable and inclusive food system that focused on marginal farmers and strengthen the global fertiliser supply chains.
Around 200 delegates from G20 member countries, nine special invitee countries and representatives of international organisations have attended the meetings, which will conclude on Saturday, with the AWG adopting resolutions for future action.