As over 30 nations grapple with food riots caused by rising prices, India's story on how it pulled off record farm production will hold the world's attention at the three-day Food Security Summit beginning in Rome Tuesday.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar will share the country's experience at the summit, being organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation to draw a common strategy for tackling the global food crisis and impact of climate change on availability of food grains.
The summit, which among others will be attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, is being held at a time when global food prices have soared to a 10-year high hitting the poor the hardest.
India's voice will be important as the country has managed to increase agriculture output to a record level of 227 million tons, "as a result of various measures taken by the government to revitalise agriculture."
Procurement of food grains for the public distribution system has touched 47 million tons, said an official release pointing out that the country "has been able to manage food security both in terms of availability and price level in a satisfactory manner."
{{/usCountry}}Procurement of food grains for the public distribution system has touched 47 million tons, said an official release pointing out that the country "has been able to manage food security both in terms of availability and price level in a satisfactory manner."
{{/usCountry}}Besides Pawar, India will be represented by Agriculture Secretary P K Mishra, country's newly-appointed Ambassador to Italy Arif Khan and representatives of Ministries of Environment and Forest and New and Renewable Energy.