G20: General V K Singh Officially Inaugurates G20 Meeting Of Agricultural Chief Scientists

General (Dr.) V K Singh (Retd.), Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, and Road Transport and Highways, inaugurated the G20 Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) in Varanasi. This meeting marks the 100th G20 Meeting during India's G20 Presidency.

In his address, General (Dr.) Singh highlighted that India's G20 Presidency theme of 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' reflects the collective efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The theme of MACS, "Sustainable Agriculture & Food System for healthy people and Plants," aligns with the emphasis put forth in the G20 Presidency theme.

The Minister stressed the importance of using bio-fortified crop varieties to quickly address nutrition and health issues affecting women and children. He mentioned that more than 5 million hectares of land in India are planted with bio-fortified crops of different types.

He also emphasized the significance of the country's network of ICAR institutes and KVKs, which have specialized knowledge in areas such as crops, livestock, fisheries, soil, water, and farm machinery, as well as a wide reach among farmers. This network is being utilized to provide an ICT interface that connects plants, animals, humans, and machines.

Furthermore, General (Dr.) Singh urged the G-20 countries to explore various sustainable practices that promote crop diversification, efficient use of water and fertilizers, adoption of horticulture techniques, soil, and health management, and post-harvest crop management. He also advocated for the use of emerging digital technologies to make farming easier across the G-20 countries and around the world.

During a meeting, it was announced by Shri Sanjay Garg, Additional Secretary (DARE) & Secretary (ICAR), that India's proposal to declare 2023 as the International Year of the Millets was accepted by the UN General Assembly. The aim is to bring attention to the benefits of millet on a global scale and turn it into a people's movement. He also appealed to all G20 countries to support this initiative.

The meeting was chaired by Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR), and MACS Chair.

As a result of the International Year of Millets 2023, India proposed the adoption of the G20 initiative on Millets and Other Ancient Grains International Research Initiative (MAHARISHI) by MACS.

Discussions have taken place on various topics related to innovation and technology in agri-food systems transformation, frontiers in science and technology for achieving food security and nutrition, biofortification in food crops to enhance nutritional value, tropical seaweed farming for nutrition and blue growth, the Millets and Other Ancient Grains International Research Initiative (MAHARISHI), One Health as an integrated and unifying approach for partnerships and strategies for coordinated action, transboundary pests and diseases with research and development priorities for resilient agri-food systems, climate resilient technologies and innovations for sustainable agri-food systems, nature-positive agriculture, and biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing crop yields. On April 18th, the delegates will discuss digital agriculture and sustainable agri-value chains, public-private partnerships in agricultural research and development, and the MACS Communique among G-20 member countries.

Around 80 foreign delegates hailing from G20 member nations, namely Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA, and the European Union, along with guest countries including Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain, UAE, Vietnam, and representatives of international organizations such as the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Health Organization, World Trade Organization, International Labour Organization, FSB, OECD, Chairs of Regional Organizations AU, AUDA-NEPAD, ASEAN, and special invitees by India including International Solar Alliance, CDR, and Asian Development Bank, are participating in a three-day meeting.

-PIB

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