Agricultural scientist and Deputy Director General (Horticulture), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, N.K. Krishna Kumar emphasised the need to develop sustainability in agriculture for achieving food security goals in view of the growing population of the country.
He was delivering the foundation day speech at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, on Monday.
Population growth
“Food security in actual sense means nutrition security that can best be supplemented by horticulture produces. A sizable population in India is suffering from malnutrition that can be addressed by horticulture crops,” he said.
Considering the demand for food in the years to come, Mr. Kumar said there was a need to grow more with less inputs. He also cautioned about the dangers of excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers in an attempt to grow more with limited resources. “We need to grow more with less resources such as water, land, investment. At the same time, we need to move away from the use of fertilizers and pesticides for sustainability.
Integrated farming
“Maintaining soil health and going for integrated farming will help developing sustainable agriculture. 21st century should be marked by not just increasing productivity in agriculture, but also by maintaining sustainability in farming. Increased investment in horticulture could help achieve this goal. It is really a challenge,” he said. He said the public sector had a pivotal role to play in the development of sustainable agriculture as the private sector could not be expected to chip in considering the low profit margin.
Mr. Kumar said a horticultural revolution must take place in three zones in India – dryland areas, temperate regions and north-eastern States. S.A. Patil, former director of Indian Agricultural Research Institute and the former Vice Chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, was the chief guest. P.M. Salimath, Vice-Chancellor of UAS-R, presided over the event. B.V. Patil, Director of Education, D.M. Chandaragi, Registrar, were among those present.
