Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday sought the active participation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in addressing the challenges confronting Indian agriculture, especially in capacity-building in food storage.
The prime minister conveyed this to FAO Director General Jose Graziano da Silva who called on him.
Seeking FAO's partnership for capacity-building in food storage, Modi suggested that "some portion of such capacity addition brought about by the FAO's efforts through international financial institutions, could be earmarked for the food and nutritional requirements of the poorest countries".
Modi also sought FAO's cooperation in designing a special campaign targeted at women in India, which would highlight ways to improve nutritional value and food habits.
He further discussed ways and means by which FAO could contribute towards increasing nutritional value in the Mid-Day Meal scheme for school children, enhancing production and protein content of pulses, improving production of oilseeds, enhancing milk productivity, and modernization of fisheries sector in India.
Describing da Silva as one of the champions of the No Hunger Project - which works towards ending hunger and poverty - in Brazil, Modi called upon the FAO to take the lead in protecting the interests of the poor and farmers at the World Trade Organization.
Asserting that India does not stand in the way of a rule-based global trade agreement, Modi said: "India cannot sacrifice the interests and food security of the poor and the farmers."