India will ramp up foodgrain production, committed to help in global food crisis: Mandaviya

As the world faces a severe food crisis due to the war in Ukraine, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said India is a responsible country that is committed to all possible help to the rest of the globe.

“However, with such a big population, our own need for foodgrains is much higher. However, we will ramp up our production and it is my humble request that all other countries should also do the same and all responsible countries should come together to tackle the food crisis,” the Minister said at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

“India is a responsible country and is committed to provide all help that may be required. The Indian philosophy of the whole world being one family saw India helping the rest of the world with medicines and vaccines even during the lockdowns,” he said in reply to a question on fears of famine, especially in Africa.

Mr. Mandaviya, also the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers, was speaking at a session on ‘Redefining Food Systems with Emerging Technologies’.

He elaborated on the role of technology and innovations in building resilience in global food systems and also highlighted various efforts of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in modernising the agriculture sector.

“India is a big country with huge diversity and almost half the population depends on farming. We are taking a number of initiatives so that farmers get fertilisers at cheaper rates and also they get the information digitally on soil health etc.

“We are trying to ensure that the costs remain low for farmers and their productivity improves. We are providing all kinds of financial and technical support to farmers. Despite the size of farms going down, the production is going up in India,” he noted.

The government is helping farmers adopt new technologies to enhance the production, the Minister added.