He emphasized the need to minimize pre-harvest and post-harvest losses and improve market infrastructure.

Inaugurating the virtual consultation ‘Science for Resilient Food, Nutrition and Livelihoods’ organized by the M.S Swaminathan Foundation (MSSRF), Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu has highlighted the need to constantly review the country’s food, agriculture and trade policies and reorienting agricultural priorities towards more nutrition-sensitive food.

He lauded MSSRF’s aim to accelerate use of modern science and technology for agricultural and rural development.

To ensure food and nutrition security for all, Naidu called for making agriculture more resilient and profitable. He also emphasized the need to minimize pre-harvest and post-harvest losses and improve market infrastructure. He urged policy makers to promote investment in irrigation infrastructure and focus on R&D to raise productivity of nutritious foods and help reduce their cost.

Highlighting the importance of anticipatory research, he said that anticipatory warning benefitted the farmers during recent locust attacks.

Calling for seamless technology transfer and farmer education,  Naidu said India’s laboratories must be firmly linked to its farms and fields.

Naidu also endorsed Dr Swaminathan’s suggestion to provide land rights to the women. “Land rights, pattas and all other property should be jointly in the name of man and woman ”, he said.