India, FAO start agriculture projects in 5 states

India along with UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has commenced an agriculture project with 33.5 million dollar grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) that aims to bring transformative change in the agriculture sector by protecting the biodiversity and forest landscapes. According to official declaration, "The project is being funded by the GEF and will be executed by the Indian government’s Agriculture and Environment Ministries and FAO”.

The project intends to transform agricultural production to give global environmental benefits by addressing issues such as - biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, land degradation and sustainable forest management.

CEO of National Rainfed Area Authority, Ministry of Agriculture, Ashok Dalwai said that there should be an alternative paradigm to the existing extractive methods of agricultural production systems. He also emphasized the need for scientific research to focus on achieving greener landscapes along with efficient resource use. He stressed that integrated farming requires expansion of backward and forward linkages to harness the benefits of economies of scale.

Assistant FAO Representative in India, Konda Reddy said “The project will be executed in 5 landscapes in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand and will bring harmony between conservation and development efforts of the country.