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Quality control and food safety systems need continuous upgradation as more contaminants emerge owing to refinement in the systems and technology to detect and treat them, says Prashant Goyal

Bhopal, Sept 6: Minister of State for Food Processing and Horticulture Shri Karan Singh Verma has said that farmers' development can be ensured only through correct pricing for their produce. He was addressing a daylong workshop on the subject 'Food and Security' here today. Shri Verma informed that food parks will be established at six places in Madhya Pradesh.

Confronted with land degradation, chronic water shortages, and a growing population that already numbers 1.3 billion, China is looking to a transgenic green revolution to secure its food supply. Later this month, the government is expected to roll out a $3.5 billion research and development (R&D) initiative on genetically modified (GM) plants. "The new initiative will spur commercialization of GM varieties," says Xue Dayuan, chief scientist on biodiversity at the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

BHUBANESWAR: A plan outlay of Rs 75.46 crore for increased productivity of rice in 15 districts and pulses in 10 districts under the National Food Security Mission has been prepared by the State Government.

The State-level advisory committee of the mission headed by Agriculture Minister S.N. Naik recently discussed the measures taken by the Agriculture Department to implement the Central scheme which was launched last year.

In Malawi, the fifth poorest country in the world, the government introduced a voucher programme for small scale farmers, providing them access to subsidised fertilizer
and seed. The country suddenly saw bumper harvests in both 2006 and 2007. Are fertilizer subsidies the way out of poverty for small scale farmers in Africa?

In Nebbi district, Uganda, women and girls eat after men have filled their stomachs. A local NGO targets women to discuss nutritional values and cultural norms. Surprisingly, when approached with respect, both men and women are willing to review traditional practices and make sure all get enough food.

What the declaration made in Dhaka, following a six-day long 'International Symposium on Climate Change and Food Security' jointly sponsored by several national and international agencies, has helped to highlight is the fact that it is not only an environmental issue but also one that affect our very existence. And one couldn't agree more with the comments of the visiting Iceland President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson that climate change has the potential to be the most significant challenge to human security in the near future.

Rice makes up 20 percent of the typical Haitian's diet, and that percentage is growing. In 1981 Haiti imported 18,000 tons of rice. Now the country imports close to 400,000 tons annually. Less than a quarter is homegrown. "T

The green revolution of the sixties helped to instil self-confidence in our agricultural capability and also to purchase time in relation to achieving a balance between population growth and food production.

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