<p>Asserting that the future belongs to countries with grains and not guns, father of India's Green Revolution M S Swaminathan said India should give more priority to agriculture sector, the backbone of its economy.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"Agriculture requires much more priority. Science requires more priority. Scientific bodies require more autonomy. People should be able to work on a problem," Swaminathan said in response to a question after his presentation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies – a top American think-tank.<br /><br />During his presentation, Swaminathan mentioned how public policy works in achieving zero hunger target.<br /><br />He said future belongs to the countries with grains, not guns. He lamented that agriculture is not receiving necessary attention in India.<br /><br />He said that the intentions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi "are good", but things are not happening the way they should at the ground level.<br /><br />"His (Prime Minister's) intentions are good. His announcements are good. But actually at the field level things are not happening the way I would like to see," Swaminathan said.<br />"In India, concerns have been raised about the new government's priorities not exactly being in alignment with the policy initiatives that have been described in your presentation," he said.<br /><br />Swaminathan said one should maintain social protection methods and strengthen them further.<br /><br />Giving the example of his home State of Tamil Nadu, he said the Chief Minister (J Jayalalithaa) through her social welfare measures is able to meet people's need at a zero cost.<br /><br />Noting that food storage losses are very high, he said this is one main area that needs to be focused on.<br /><br />In his presentation, he also called for adaption and mitigation to combat climate change and use seeds that are resilient and participatory local research.<br /><br />Healthy oceans, he said, are key to achieving the sustainable development goals.<br />"We have 97 per cent water on earth- we can produce a lot of food with it though natural resources conservation and sustainability work," he said. <br /></p>
<p>Asserting that the future belongs to countries with grains and not guns, father of India's Green Revolution M S Swaminathan said India should give more priority to agriculture sector, the backbone of its economy.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"Agriculture requires much more priority. Science requires more priority. Scientific bodies require more autonomy. People should be able to work on a problem," Swaminathan said in response to a question after his presentation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies – a top American think-tank.<br /><br />During his presentation, Swaminathan mentioned how public policy works in achieving zero hunger target.<br /><br />He said future belongs to the countries with grains, not guns. He lamented that agriculture is not receiving necessary attention in India.<br /><br />He said that the intentions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi "are good", but things are not happening the way they should at the ground level.<br /><br />"His (Prime Minister's) intentions are good. His announcements are good. But actually at the field level things are not happening the way I would like to see," Swaminathan said.<br />"In India, concerns have been raised about the new government's priorities not exactly being in alignment with the policy initiatives that have been described in your presentation," he said.<br /><br />Swaminathan said one should maintain social protection methods and strengthen them further.<br /><br />Giving the example of his home State of Tamil Nadu, he said the Chief Minister (J Jayalalithaa) through her social welfare measures is able to meet people's need at a zero cost.<br /><br />Noting that food storage losses are very high, he said this is one main area that needs to be focused on.<br /><br />In his presentation, he also called for adaption and mitigation to combat climate change and use seeds that are resilient and participatory local research.<br /><br />Healthy oceans, he said, are key to achieving the sustainable development goals.<br />"We have 97 per cent water on earth- we can produce a lot of food with it though natural resources conservation and sustainability work," he said. <br /></p>