Sustainable agriculture, food security focus areas at G20 deputies meeting

The G20 member countries are heading towards a consensus on adopting alternate grain and traditional crops in the respective countries, such as millets in India, to support food security and nutrition requirements

The G20 member countries are heading towards a consensus on adopting alternate grain and traditional crops in the respective countries, such as millets in India, to support food security and nutrition requirements, said Manoj Ahuja, secretary, department of agriculture and farmers’ welfare, the government of India on Friday. It was the third and final day of the second Agricultural Deputies Meeting held at Chandigarh concluded today.

A farm worker harvests wheat crop, at a village on the outskirts of Gurugram on March 28, 2023 (PTI)

According to Ahuja, all the member nations raised concerns about the sustainability of agriculture, agroecology and nutrition. “Very shortly a communique will be prepared and sent to the member countries for pondering over it so that when we meet again in June, these are discussed threadbare, and a roadmap can be worked out,” he said.

The day started with a discussion on the outcome document, addressed first by Shubha Thakur, a joint secretary rank office in the central ministry of agriculture.

Two consecutive sessions focused on drafting the communiqué by the member countries of G20 and were marked by elaborate discussions. Delegates from other invited countries and international organisations also put forth their viewpoints during the session.

Apart from the member countries, Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain, UAE and Vietnam were the invited countries. There are 10 international organisations which attended the G20 meeting. These include - Asian Development Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International crops research institute for semi-arid and tropics, International fund for agricultural development, International food policy research institute, Organisation for economic cooperation and development, World Food Programme, and the World Bank.

According to Ahuja deliberations will pave the way for agreement on four focus areas - food security and nutrition, climate-smart agriculture, inclusive agriculture value chains and food systems and digitalisation for agricultural transformation.