Bhubaneswar: Former Chief Scientist of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Chairperson of MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) Dr Soumya Swaminathan paid a courtesy call to Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo on Thursday.
Dr Swaminathan invited Singh Deo to attend the international conference on a hunger-free world to be held at Chennai on August 7 and 8 and discussed other matters.
In the meeting held at Singh Deo’s official chamber in the Lok Seva Bhavan, Principal Secretary of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Department Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Agriculture Director Prem Chandra Chaudhary and other senior officers were present.
At the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Singh Deo emphasized on cultivation of paddy, green gram, black gram, millets and other cereal varieties through traditional and organic farming processes. The government will very soon come up with a programme on this through which over time traditional seeds facing extinction can be preserved.
Singh Deo suggested that for the marketing of paddy, wheat, millets and pulses produced from indigenous seeds, branches should opened both inside and outside the state. He pointed out that only when people use these food grains they can become aware of their quality and nutritional value.
During the discussion, Dr Swaminathan proposed developing the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) at Jeypore in Koraput district into an international training centre for farmers.
Now the government is also stressing on nutritional value instead of only focusing on the productivity of the crop. As a result of which balance can be maintained on the soil’s quality, health and environment, said Principal Secretary Dr Padhee.
Incentivizing farmers producing nutritional cereals using traditional and organic methods by the government was also discussed at the meeting.
Dr Swaminathan is currently the Chief Advisor of the National TB Eradication Programme of the Government of India’s Health & Family Welfare Department.
