Food security important for national security, need to increase farm productivity: NSA Doval

Pantnagar (Uttarakhand), February 16 (ANI): Pointing out that China was producing more food grains than India despite having a lesser amount of cultivable land, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday said the country must put in more efforts to increase farm productivity, as food security is an important aspect of national security.

Addressing the 34th Convocation of GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Doval said, “China has got lesser land than us on which it can do farming but the production of food grains in China is much more than what we produce. We need to focus on and put in more effort for increasing farm productivity. As food security is an important aspect of national security.”
On the occasion, Doval was conferred with an honorary Doctorate of Literature (D Litt) by Uttarakhand Governor LT General Gurmit Singh.

Praising the role of the university in achieving food security, the NSA said, “Right after partition, 22 million hectares of cultivable land went to Pakistan and the global community doubted whether India would be able to feed its people as a large part of fertile land went to Pakistan.”

“But in 75 years, India has ensured that not only it is self-sufficient in food grains but it is also in a position to export them to help other countries,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, University Vice Chancellor, Dr Manmohan Singh Chauhan said the presence of the NSA at the convocation was a major source of inspiration for the students and they would be encouraged to work harder and perform better in their studies.

Chauhan said there was a need for focusing on increasing farm productivity as well as the processing of food grains to increase the income of the farmers in the country.

“The need for the change also stems from the fact that the Indian system has now reached a stage where it must address second-generation problems relating to organisational rigidities, inefficiencies, and difficulties in sustaining funding in the farm sector,” Chauhan said.

The GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology is one of India’s premier agriculture universities located in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.