India, World Food Programme sign MoU during Global Millets Conference

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations during the Global Millets (Shree Anna) Conference, according to the statement released by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, on Sunday, lauded the work of WFP in promoting food self-sufficiency and supporting governmental and global efforts to ensure long-term solutions to the challenge of hunger.

At the conference, Tomar also thanked the ministers for being a part of the global conference organized by India with the aim of promoting Shree Anna, under the International Year of Millets (IYM), according to the statement.

He said that the International Year of Millets is being celebrated so that the Indian Shree Anna, its recipes, and value-added products are accepted globally as a people’s movement. He hoped to further strengthen India’s agricultural ties with various countries.

During the global conference, the MoU between WFP and the Government of India for cooperation between 2023-2027 was signed in the presence of Agriculture Minister Tomar. During this, Manoj Juneja, Deputy Chief Executive Director, Management and Chief Financial Officer of UNWFP, and Elizabeth Faure, WFP Representative and Country Director in India were present, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, he held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from various countries participating in the Global Millets Conference. In a meeting with Guyana’s Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustafa, Union Minister Tomar recalled the visit of the President of Guyana, Mohammad Irfan Ali, and Vice-President of Guyana Bharat Jagdev, and said that agriculture is a very important area of cooperation between the two countries.

Expressing happiness over the steady progress in India-Guyana relations, he hoped for concrete cooperation in Agriculture and allied sectors.

Tomar congratulated Guyana for the huge crude oil discovery, saying that this would enable Guyana to establish itself as a major energy exporter, which has the potential to transform the lives of its people.

Expressing immense potential for cooperation in Agriculture and Agro-Processing Industries between India and Guyana, he said that the two countries complement each other as Guyana has vast arable land and water availability and India has the technology, expertise, and skilled manpower, which will mutually benefit both the countries.

“India is keen to share its expertise and experience in the development of agriculture and allied sectors in Guyana, for which an MoU is under finalization. He assured that Guyana’s request for the deputation of two experts to ITEC from India for three years to support the Guyana Sugar Corporation management and revive the sugar estates/plants in Guyana would be considered at the earliest,” the statement read.

Apart from Guyana, Tomar also held meetings with his counterparts from Zambia, Suriname, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka. (BS)