India, a food-surplus country, should work towards improving the quality of its agriculture products, said Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
The Minister was speaking at Bhumi Suposhan , a two-day seminar on ‘Approach and practice to enrich soil for sustainable agriculture’ at Indian Institute of Chemical Technology here on Saturday. “Earlier, India used to be a food-deficit country, but that’s not the case now. As the scale and speed of production has increased, we should stress on quality,” the Minister said.
Indigenous breeds of cattle and seeds should be preserved, he said, pointing out that in countries like Brazil, Indian breeds of cattle, especially cows, are preserved as they give the highest amount of milk.
Needed: water conservation
As India is set to become a global power, its indigenous food production should not fall. “If we do not conserve water, we will not be able to conserve soil and with it, production would fall,” Mr. Shekhawat said. “Instead of adopting western methods and western seeds, we should focus on developing and exporting our indigenous breeds to other countries,” the Minister added. He supported establishment of cow protection committees.
The seminar would conclude on April 25.
