Ensure food for all through proper land use: Swaminathan

Bangalore, Sep 20 (UNI) Noted Agricultural Scientist M S Swaminathan today said there was a need for ensuring food through a land use advisory system based on the integration of data from meteorological and marketing factors and a market intellegence system.

Delivering a special lecture on ''Contribution of Farmers of India in Providing Food Security to more than One billion people of India'' here, he said these instruments would help to safeguard the interest of farmers on one hand and ensure adequate reserve of grains through timely imports when needed.

''The policy of allowing large multinational corporations to mop up our wheat surplus was fatal in terms of timing,'' he said.

Stating that the National Commission of Farmers had suggested a pricing policy for procurement, he said it would be prudent to adopt this system at the earliest.

He also gave an example of China in this regard to the efficient price and food management.

''The sooner we develop our capacity to take informed proactive decisions and action to maintain substantial grain reserves and to universalise our PDS, the greater will be the possibility of avoiding both a 'ship to mouth' existance and widespread food riots, he said.

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