8th Global Conference on Agri-Statistics Starts Today; Bill Gates to Give Keynote Address

Billionaire Bill Gates is scheduled to give a keynote address during the four-day global conference on Agriculture Statistics that starts today, November 18 in Delhi. The conference is being organized by the agriculture ministry in association with the United Nation's FAO, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other agencies.

Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar along with two ministers of state for agriculture will be present at the event. Around 108 countries and over 600 delegates are expected to participate in the conference. 'Statistics for transformation of agriculture to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)' will be the theme of the conference. Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said that Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-chair Bill Gates will deliver a keynote address.

Dr. Mohapatra said that "agri-data plays an extremely important role in evidence-based policy making, agri-data in India is scattered and efforts are being made to collate at one place. The event will help India learn from global experiences and chalk out a proper policy. It will also help in achieving the SDGs".

He added that "By 2030, we have to achieve SDGs. Eliminating hunger and malnutrition are some of the major concerns not only for India but also for other countries. The conference will deliberate on policy measures and global cooperation in farm statistics required to be taken for achieving the SDGs."

This conference is held every three years and the first conference on agriculture statistics was held in 1998 in Washington. The previous conference was held in Brazil in 2016. Agri-statisticians from all around the globe and representatives of National Statistics Offices, the conference also open its doors to the participation of producers, suppliers and users of agri-statistics as well as policy makers, researchers and analysts. This conference will also help young statisticians from India to present their work and create better employment opportunities in the future, Mohapatra added.