BRIC could ensure global food safety: Indian Agri Min

Vinay Shukla
Moscow, Mar 27 (PTI) The BRIC grouping has a huge
potential in combating hunger and ensuring global food
security, agriculture minister of India Sharad Pawar said here
on Saturday.
"I feel that BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) has
huge potential for cooperation in combating hunger and
ensuring food security through coordinated approaches in
modernising farming and inducting environment-friendly
technologies," Pawar said at the end of his three-day visit to
the Russian capital during which he attended the maiden
session of the BRIC agriculture ministers.
The summit of the leaders of the four fastest emerging
economies on April 16 in Brazil will be briefed on the outcome
of the first-ever meeting of the farm ministers.
Pawar said the experts group set up by the BRIC farm
ministers yesterday to help combat hunger and climate change
will comprise the heads of the relevant institutes of the
four-nation informal grouping.
According to Pawar, the BRIC farm ministers experts
group would be regularly meeting to implement the guidelines
and priority areas of their cooperation laid down in the joint
declaration, which include creation of information database,
development of a general strategy to ensure access to food for
the most vulnerable sections of the population.
The experts group would also evolve comprehensive
adaptive measures to mitigate the negative impact of climate
change on food security and adaptation of agriculture to
climatic changes and will prepare specific proposals for BRIC
farm ministers at their next meeting in 2011 likely in China,
he said.
Pawar also had bilateral meetings with his Russian and
Chinese counterparts Elena Skrynnik and Han Changfu,
respectively. "During the very fruitful meeting with the
Russian agriculture minister, we discussed the possibility of
cooperation in the farming sector, including research. We have
agreed to look into the possibility of signing a working plan
in agriculture, the draft of which was handed over to Russia
in 2000," Pawar said, addng however, no concrete projects were
discussed with the Russian minister during the meeting.
"They have offered to sell wheat to us, but due to large
buffer stock this year we are not planning to import it," he
said, adding the country could import pulses and oilseeds.
During his meeting with the Chinese minister, the two
sides agreed to discuss the issue of regular exchange of
information and researchers. "Both countries have identical
goals of achieving self-sufficiency in food and this provides
for a good ground for bilateral cooperation. Especially in
view of climate change, the two countries could work together
in developing draught-resistant crops," Pawar said. PTI VS
KAB