India on Friday declared its firm commitment to continue to share its best practices and build capacities with other countries in the agriculture sector, bilaterally as well as in collaboration with international organisations, so that they too become self-reliant and food secure nations.

”The welfare of the farmers and overall development of the agriculture sector has been the top priority of the Government of India,” Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said.

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He was chairing the eighth meeting of agriculture ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries held through video conferencing. Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China and Pakistan participated in it.

The SCO countries adopted the Smart Agriculture project. Expressing satisfaction over the smart agriculture action plan and the initiative of innovation in agriculture, Tomar said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis was on the overall development of agriculture in the country through technology. In this direction, India has taken several concrete steps to promote smart agriculture.

The Indian minister said that over the years, India has performed well in the agriculture sector, contributing to global food security with food grain production, registering a significant growth in exports, and exports of agricultural and allied products have crossed Rs four lakh crore.

Tomar said that India’s public distribution system and price support system for farmers was unique in the world. ”It is the good result of the foresight of our policy-makers, efficiency of agricultural scientists and tireless hard work of farmers that today India was self-sufficient in food grains. India was a leading producer of many commodities like cereals, fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, and fish.

He said the rich agricultural research has played an important role in solving the issue of food security, improving the income of farmers and agriculture workers and also for the sustenance of the people. Efforts were being made by the Government of India to make the country self-reliant in the agriculture sector with concerted efforts in innovation, digital agriculture, climate-smart technologies, development of high-yielding, biofortified varieties, and agricultural research. Efforts were also being made to improve the life and livelihood of the farmers by making their agriculture sustainable and friendly.