India to give more stress on Food Security Mission

The hour has come for India to stress more on the Food Security Mission and go for Germination Revolution and Green Revolution, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said here today.

The country's agricultural crop production will be 340 million ton from 260 million ton with each agricultural food product increasing output by 3 million ton on average from this year as the Narendra Modi government is following the policy of 'jai kishan' keeping the interest of farmers at the top, Balyan said.

To fight drought and flood for regions like Assam, the agriculture ministry is asking the universities and the Research and Development agencies to come out with a high yielding variety with flood tolerance ability, said Balyan in his convocation address at the Assam Agricultural University (AAU) here.

However, possible eco-friendly engineering based technology is the need of the hour to check further flood damage by the rivers in the country, he added.

The agricultural universities in the country are also well equipped to meet the challenges and emerging needs of the 21st century, including food safety, food security and nutritional security, bio-energy, stress vulnerability, climate change, community economic development, world hunger, water quality and quantity, Balyan said.

The establishment of an Agricultural Research Institute in Assam will also benefit farmers, research fellows, scholars, scientist and students, etc., he said.

A total of 840 students from various colleges under the Assam Agricultural University were conferred degrees from Doctorate of Science to Bachelor level.