New Delhi: On the occasion of 75th Anniversary of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday released a commemorative coin of Rs 75 denomination to mark the long-standing relation of India with FAO.
Prime Minister also dedicated to the Nation 17 recently developed bio-fortified varieties of 8 crops.
The event marks the highest priority accorded by the government to agriculture and nutrition, and is a testament of the resolve to completely eliminate hunger, undernourishment and malnutrition.
India has rolled out an ambitious POSHAN Abhiyaan targeting over 100 million people with the aim to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia, and low birth weight. Malnutrition is a global problem with two billion people suffering from micronutrient deficiency. Nearly 45% of deaths among children are linked to malnutrition. Appropriately, it is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.
Aligning with the international priority, the development of nutritionally rich varieties of crops with elevated levels of micronutrients iron, zinc, calcium, total protein, quality of protein with high lysine and tryptophan, anthocyanin, provitamin A, and oleic acid, and reduced level of anti-nutritional factors etc. has been accorded top priority by the government. The National Agricultural Research System under the leadership of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) developed 53 such varieties during the last five years. There was only one biofortified variety developed prior to 2014.
Addressing the programme marking 75th anniversary of @FAO. #SahiPoshanDeshRoshan https://t.co/aCUbwedDpb
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 16, 2020
