Thank you Mr. President,

Thank you for giving me the floor. We thank Secretary-General for his Report on Agriculture Development, Food Security and Nutrition and a Note transmitting the report on the main decisions and policy recommendations of the Committee on World Food Security. India associates itself with the statement made by the distinguished representative of Ecuador on behalf of the Group of 77.

Mr. President,

Thousands of years ago, the practice of farming transformed the human society by sustaining much larger populations and indeed civilization itself. Last century, the advent of technological advancement in the agrarian sector further introduced significant changes in the way food is produced and distributed for the global market.While there is enough food produced in the world today to feed the global population and yet millions of poor go hungry every day. Ending hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition remain a major roadblocks to the inclusive achievement of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.  . 
Accelerated growth in the agricultural and rural economies is essential for breaking the vicious cycle of extreme poverty, undernourishment and malnutrition. It is also central to achieving targets of the Goals relating to health, water, biodiversity, sustainable cities, sustainable energy, oceans, climate change, consumption and production patterns, gender equality, political stability and means of implementation. 

Mr. President,

India successfully transitioned from a situation of a food deficient nation at the time of our independence 70 years ago, to one that achieved self sufficiency in food production through a Green revolution within a couple of decades. Today, we are not only self sufficient in production of food grains but also one of the major exporters of farm produce and animal products.Agriculture continues to be a vital sector of India's economy. India is world's largest producer of milk, one of the top producers of fruits and vegetables and one of the three leading producers of fisheries. The growth of food-grain production has been largely due to institutional efforts in raising the levels of technology used in agriculture through research and extension, investments in rural infrastructure and human capabilities, credit support, procurement at minimum support prices and the strengthening of supportive institutions. With these experiences, we have developed world-class institutions of research and training in agriculture, dairy and live stocks under every possible climatic condition. 
There are, however, challenges to further improve agriculture productivity to meet the growing demand, introduce more sustainable farming practices, making available agriculture inputs at affordable cost, connecting farms to markets, increasing farm incomes and improving food distribution systems. 

Mr. President,

We have seen a big dream, a dream of doubling farmers' income by 2022. The Indian government is taking several steps to meet the challenges to realize this dream. Government schemes handhold the farmers right from procurement of seeds to access to the markets in order to improve their lives. For ensuring implementation of these schemes, the biometric-based unique individual identification system Aadhar with banking services and mobile phone technologies has been introduced and is proving to be a huge success.
I would like to refer to some of the major scheme here. Last year, recognizing the importance of local and domestic food markets for smallholders' e-NAM, the electronic-trading platform for the national agriculture market to significantly improve the linkage between the farmer and the market covering about 300 small agricultural markets across the country.
Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi recently announced the launch of the new scheme in agriculture Sampada (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters), which will bring value addition of agriculture produce.
Cooperatives have been asked to venture into new business areas like beekeeping and seaweed farming to help farmers double their income by 2022 and boost the rural economy. I am happy to note that a resolution is being discussed in the second committee to declare May 20 as the World Bee Day. Soil Health Cards are being provided to all farmers in the country to better match soil quality and crops being grown. India is aiming for 'Water to every field' in next four years by augmenting irrigation coverage through massive investments. 

Mr. President,

Efforts to end hunger and malnutrition must be accelerated. In line with our steadfast commitment to South-South Cooperation, India remains committed to sharing its technical assistance to ensure food security in fellow developing countries for ending hunger, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture.

 I thank you.