By IANS,
New Delhi : President Pranab Mukherjee Friday said food production deserved high priority in the country’s national policy formulation owing to the growing population.
Speaking at the national conference on ‘Doubling India’s Food Production In The Next Five Years’, Mukherjee said the health of the people has to be secured because a country’s development is dependent on the productivity of its people.
“With a growing population, the challenge before us is not only to ensure that the indicators of food security do not deteriorate, but instead show improvement food production… therefore, (it) deserves high priority in our national policy formulation,” he said.
Mukherjee further said that food deprivation couldn’t be allowed to continue and steps were required to secure greater access of food for the poor and the needy.
In the context of pursuing inclusivity in economic growth, “it is of primary essence to achieve the inter-dependent objectives of poverty alleviation, mitigation of food inadequacy, creation of rural employment and growth in rural incomes”.
According to Mukherjee, substantial expansion in the country’s food production will help achieve the objectives.