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| ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’: Celebrating Agriculture | | ‘Food and Nutrition for Farmers’ | | Dr. Parveen Kumar, Prof. (Dr.) J. P. Sharma
The resurgence shown by the country in different sectors in the last seven decades since independence is unparallel and unmatched. As country has entered 75th year of its independence, there are many firsts to its credit and much more to celebrate. The Government of India under the dynamic leadership of its Primeminister Sh. Narendra Damodardass Modi has decided to celebrate the year as ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. The ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahatsov’ is an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glorious history of its people, their diverse culture and the achievements it made in diverse fields. This ‘Mahatsov’ is dedicated to the people of India who have not only been instrumental in bringing India thus far in its evolutionary journey, but also hold within them the power and potential to enable Prime Minister Modi’s vision of activating India 2.0, fuelled by the spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav is an embodiment of all that is progressive about India’s socio-cultural, political and economic identity. The official journey of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahatsov” commenced on 12th March, 2021 which started a 75 week countdown to our 75th anniversary of Independence and will end post a year on 15th August, 2023.
Starting the Amrit Mahatsov, the Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi flagged off the ‘Padyatra’ (Freedom March) from Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmadabad and inaugurated the curtain raiser activities of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ (India@75). Addressing the gathering at Sabarmati Ashram, the Prime Minister noted the launch of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ 75 weeks before 15 August 2020 which will continue till 15 August, 2023. The Prime Minister reiterated five pillars i.e. Freedom Struggle, Ideas at 75, Achievements at 75, Actions at 75 and Resolves at 75 as guiding force for moving forward keeping dreams and duties as inspiration. Hon’ble Prime Minister asserted that Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav means elixir of energy of independence. It means elixir of inspirations of the warriors of freedom struggle; elixir of new ideas and pledges and nectar of Atmanirbharta i. e self reliance. Agriculture in the country depicts one core sector which has made the country self reliant in food grains production. The country which once was dubbed as a ‘begging bowl’ is now the ‘bread basket’; not only feeding its own population but also exporting many food commodities for the global populace
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) as an apex body coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the entire country with more than hundred ICAR institutes and 71 agricultural universities spread across the country is one of the largest national agricultural systems in the world. The ICAR has played a pioneering role in ushering green revolution and subsequent developments in agriculture in India through its research and technology development. This has enabled the country to increase the production of food grains by 5.6 times, horticultural crops by 10.5 times, fish by 16.8 times, milk by 10.4 times and eggs by 52.9 times since 1950-51 to 2017-18, thus making a visible impact on the national food and nutritional security.
As a result of the technological interventions of ICAR and its institutes the food grains production in the country has increased by more than six times from 50 MT in 1950s to more than 300MT at present. The horticulture production in the country has exceeded food grains production in the country. The ICAR institutes are also celebrating ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ through various events and campaign in thematic areas of Indian agriculture. The twenty sixth day of August this year was celebrated with a nationwide compaign for ‘Food and Nutrition for Farmers’. Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, GoI, Sh. Narendra Singh Tomar addressed the scientific fraternity and the farming community from across the country in a virtual mode. The Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) had also organized special events like Kisan Gosthi’s, Seminars and interactions with the farming community on the theme ‘Food and Nutrition for Farmers’. The theme had a significant relevance to the present day scenario.
The country has no doubt achieved a record food grains production ensuring food security for all of us but when we talk of the nutritional security in the country, the picture is different. This is manifested by the growing incidence of malnutrition, huger, stunting and wasting among children in the country. This year the annual UN FAO report titled ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021’ is also a testimony to this. It has come out with some shocking revelations that point out to the increased incidence of hunger and malnutrition in the world. The annual report 2021, states that nearly one tenth of the world population i. e between 720 and 811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020, which is around 161 million more than in 2019. In recent years, several major drivers have put the world off track to ending world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. The 2021 document on food security and nutrition puts the number of hungry people in 2020 in the world in between 720 and 811 million. Of this number, Asia accounts for 418 million (More than half of world hunger population). Africa accounts for 282 million (One-third) and Latin America and the Caribbean for 60 million. The report further depicts that nearly 2.37 billion people did not have access to adequate food in 2020, an increase of 320 million people over 2019. Stunting and wasting in children also have yielded stunning results. About 149.2 million (22%) children under the age of five are affected by stunting (low height-for-age) and 45.4 million (6.7%) of children are affected by wasting (low weight-for-height). Similarly about 38.9 million (5.7%) children under 5 are overweight (high weight-for-height). Women health is also a cause of concern according to the data in the annual FAO report. Percentage of women of reproductive age affected by anemia stood at 29.9% whereas percentage of infants aged below 6 months who were exclusively breastfed stood at 44%.
Hon’ble Vice-chancellor of the two agricultural varsities of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Prof. (Dr.) J. P. Sharma has called for a 5A approach to tackle the problem of nutritional security. He has exhorted upon the scientific community to work on Awareness, Availability, Accessibility, Affordability and Assimilation. Awareness regarding what to eat and how much to eat; Availability refers to the sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, Accessibility means access by individuals to adequate resources (entitlements) for acquiring appropriate foods for a nutritious diet; Affordability i. e food is available at a price affordable to all and finally Assimilation by which vital nutrients get absorbed within the body of the organisims. Dr. Sharma also called for an integrated farming system approach based on the use of local resources, conversion of the these local resources like farm and animal waste into high quality organic manure to further cut down the cost of cultivation, mobilizing farmers into collectives like FPOs, development of appropriate market linkages, certification and branding of organic produce so that the farming community could get a remunerative price which will increase their purchasing power as the other ways to ensure nutritional security of the farming community.
Government of India has also started various initiatives for ensuring nutritional security. Various Biofortified varieties of different crops have been released which are enriched with different nutrients. It differs from conventional fortification in that biofortification aims to increase nutrient levels in crops during plant growth rather than through manual means during processing of the crops. Some examples of biofortification include iron-biofortification of rice, beans, sweet potato, cassava and legumes, zinc-biofortification of wheat, rice, beans, sweet potato, maize and provitamin. One of the most well-known biofortification projects, Golden Rice, has focused on rice: a staple food for half of the world’s population and especially in regions where vitamin A deficiency is endemic. Golden Rice can be planted by the farmers using seeds from their own harvest and that provides sustained supply of beta-carotene. Golden Rice is an example of a Genetically Modified crop developed for its nutritional value. The latest version of Golden Rice contains genes from a common soil bacterium Erwinia and maize, and contains increased levels of beta-carotene which can be converted by the body into vitamin A.
Deficiencies of various micronutrients including vitamin A, zinc and iron is common in the developing world and affect billions of people. As such, increasing the micronutrient levels in staple crops can help prevent and reduce the micronutrient deficiencies. In Mozambique, eating sweet potatoes biofortified with beta-carotene reduced the incidence of vitamin A deficiency in children by 24%. Nutritional security is going to be a major challenge in the times to come. Besides ensuring adequate food for a burgeoning population on this planet, we have also to ensure that the food they are consuming is rich in vital nutrients. Celebrating days like Food and Nutrition for Farmers as a part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ represent our commitment and dedication to work towards a world free of malnutrition ad hunger. |
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