India a food surplus country; working to provide solutions for global food security: PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India has become a food surplus country and is working to provide solutions for global food and nutritional security.
Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the 32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE), which is being organised in India after 65 years, the Prime Minister also said the Union Budget 2024-25 focuses on sustainable agriculture.
Noting that the last time when the conference was hosted here, India had just achieved Independence, and it was a challenging time for the country's agriculture and food security.
"Now, India is a food surplus country," he said, adding that the country is the number one producer of milk, pulses and spices in the world.
Also, the country has become the second-largest producer of foodgrains, fruits, vegetables, cotton, sugar and tea.
"There was a time when India's food security was a concern for the world. Now, India is working to provide solutions for global food security and global nutritional security," he said at the conference, attended by about 1,000 delegates from around 70 countries.
The triennial conference, organised by the International Association of Agricultural Economists, is being held from August 2 to 7.
The theme for this year's conference is "Transformation Towards Sustainable Agri-Food Systems".
The Prime Minister also said India has provided 1,900 new climate-resilient varieties of crops in the last 10 years.
India is promoting chemical-free natural farming, he added.
He said the country is moving towards achieving the 20 per cent ethanol blending target in petrol.
The conference will highlight India's proactive approach to global agricultural challenges and showcase the nation's advancements in agricultural research and policy.
The event will provide a platform for young researchers and leading professionals to present their work and network with global peers.
It aims to strengthen partnerships between research institutes and universities, influence policymaking on both national and global scales, and showcase India's agricultural progress, including advancements in digital agriculture and sustainable agri-food systems.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
