G20 India: Agriculture Deputies Meeting Concludes After 3 days of Deliberations

The G20 Agriculture Deputies Meeting, hosted by India, recently concluded after three days of discussions on various agricultural issues. The meeting aimed to bring together representatives from different countries to discuss and deliberate on some of the most pressing agricultural issues of our times.

The meeting was held under the Agriculture Working Group (AWG), and was attended by representatives from G20 countries. The event was a celebration of culture, cuisine, and history. The participants got an opportunity to experience the rich culture of India while participating in meaningful deliberations during the meetings. The countries' intervention on the proposed agenda by the Indian Presidency was well received and discussed. The final day of the event started with technical theme-wise sessions.

There were four themes that were covered during the technical sessions. The first theme was "Food Security and Nutrition". Shubha Thakur, Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), delivered the opening remarks for the technical session on food security and nutrition. This was followed by context setting by the World Food Programme (WFP). Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, DA&FW presented the Global Framework on Food Security and Nutrition, followed by an introduction to the Millet International Initiative for Research and Awareness (MIIRA) by Shubha Thakur, Joint Secretary, DA&FW.

The second theme was "Sustainable Agriculture with Climate Smart Approach." Franklin L. Khobung, Joint Secretary, DA&FW, delivered the opening remarks for this technical session, followed by context setting by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The third theme was "Inclusive Agricultural Value Chains and Food Systems". Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, DA&FW, opened the technical session on this theme, and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) set the context for discussion.

The final technical session was on "Digitalization for Agricultural Transformation." Dr. P.K. Meherda, Additional Secretary, DA&FW, delivered the opening remarks for this session, and the discussion context was set by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

During each technical session, there was an open house discussion involving intellectually rich exchange of ideas, suggestions, and observations. Insightful presentations paved the way for agricultural transformation, and the importance of digitalization in agriculture was emphasized, with a special emphasis on smallholder farmers.

The session co-chair, Dr. Smita Sirohi, Joint Secretary, DA&FW, summed up each session, highlighting the concrete points made during the sessions. Concluding remarks and the way forward were presented by the session chair, Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, DA&FW, who emphasized the need to have greater convergence and collaboration among the G20 member countries on agricultural research and development aspects. The chair assured to carry forward the discussions on G20 agricultural issues in the upcoming AWG meetings.