Hyderabad: The Agriculture Working Group (AWG) Ministerial Meeting of G20 began on Thursday (June 16) in Hyderabad in which more than 200 delegates from G20 member countries, invited countries and international organizations, including Ministers and Director Generals attended the meeting.
The first day of the three-day G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting began with the inauguration of an exhibition by Minister of State, MoA&FW, Kailash Choudhary. The exhibitors displayed their achievements in the field of agriculture and allied sectors. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said,
The exhibition included 71 stalls in the fields of Waste to Wealth management, post-harvest, smart and precision agriculture, Agri innovations, value chain management etc. Of the 71 stalls, 15 stalls were exhibited by ICAR institutes to showcase the recent advancements made by their research institutions /organizations, seven stalls were exhibited by other Ministries, nine stalls were put up by private companies and 33 stalls were given to Agri start-ups to provide them with an opportunity to showcase their activities, achievements, and advancements and the remaining seven stalls have been allotted to Government of Telangana for showcasing their recent achievements
The release stated,
Post the inauguration of the exhibition, the day was dedicated to the Agriculture Deputies Meeting with the delegations from member countries, invited countries and international organizations, followed by side events in the form of the panel discussions
The Ministry further said,
The first side event was based on ‘Managing Agribusiness for Profit, People and Planet.’ The keynote address was presented by the Director General, of IFPRI, Dr Johan Swinnen. The discussion was moderated by the Former Secretary, of DA&FW, Dr Shobhana Kumar Pattnayak
The session’s panellists were from various private companies which are involved in building robust supply chain systems. The panel discussion focused on bringing out concrete examples of managing trade-offs between profit, people, and the planet, the release said,
They also discussed ways to identify solutions, policies, and programs to achieve greater sustainability for food systems at large. The event was followed by a Question and Answer session with the audience
The second side event revolved around the topic “Connecting the Digitally Disconnected: Harnessing the Power of Digital Technologies in Agriculture.
The event was initiated by the Under Secretary, of Agriculture for Rural Development, USDA, and event Chair, Xochitl Torres Small and the keynote presentation was made by the Director General, ADB (Asian Development Bank), Kenichi Yokoyam.
The discussion was moderated by Chairman, of the Centre for the Digital Future, Rentala Chandrashekhar. The session constituted panellists from various Agri Tech companies, start-ups, and international organizations.
The panel discussion was focused on exploring strategies for scaling up and replicating the best practices of digital agriculture initiatives and on discussing the nature of interventions made by the government and stakeholders in promoting and supporting the bridging of the gap for digitally disconnected populations, the release stated.
Both events concluded with the closing comments by the moderators and the presentation of mementoes to all participants.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
