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Proximate analysis of the feeds and fodders does not give any idea about their nutritive value, because availability of nutrients varies according to the feed stuffs. The major loss of nutrients take place in body after ingestion of feed is through feces. Hence, it is very essential to know the actual amount of feed digested by the animals. Losses which take place after digestion are more or less comparable in different feedstuffs.

Digestibility
Digestibility of a feed can be defined as that proportion of feed which is not being excreted in the faeces and hence assumed to be absorbed by the animal. It is expressed as percentage (% digestibility or digestibility coefficient).

Digestion trial requires feaces collection only but when we have to go for balance studies we have to collect urine also (in addition to the nutrient losses take place through milk in lactating animals) to find out the nutrient losses takes place through urine. As we have discussed in digestion trial also, male animals are usually preferred to perform these types of studies to obtain contamination free urine and feaces to find out clear picture.

Balance studies are usually performed to find out the balance of nitrogen (Nitrogen retention, NR) and minerals (Ca, P etc.) as urine is rich in these nutrients and hence for their balance we have to find out the losses takes place through urine.

The nutritive value of feedstuffs is generally expressed in terms of protein and energy value. The protein and energy value usually referred in ruminants are DCP (Digestible crude protein) and TDN (Total digestible nutrients), because the feeds used in the diet of ruminants have a vide variability in their digestibility, hence after removal of the variable fraction the requirement of nutrients is expressed. Starch Equivalent (SE) is also the measure of energy but its usefulness is limited to certain extent, due to involvement of tedious and expensive process.

It is very essential to know the nutritive value of common feedstuffs used in the diet of ruminants. On the basis of these values the nutrient requirements of ruminants may be fulfilled for different body functions like maintenance, growth, lactation, wool production or others. The nutritive value of various common feedstuffs used in the diet of ruminants is being presented in the table below:

When we are having two or more than two feed ingredients and by using them we have to prepare a mixture of desired nutrient composition then we will require to use Pearson’s square method. Use of pearson’s square is a simple procedure that allows us to mix two feed stuffs with different nutrients concentrations and come up with a mixture of the desired total concentration. For the pearson’s square to work, the desired diet’ nutrient concentration must be between the nutrient concentrations of the two feed stuffs. Suppose we have a protein source such as ground nut cake (GNC) with 40.9% crude protein (CP) and maize with 8.8% CP, and we need a mixture of the two that will have 18% CP. AS shown in the illustration, we compare the CP percentage of each feed on the left with the desired percentage in the middle of the square. The lesser value is subtracted from the greater value and the answer, in parts of a mixture rather then in percentage, is recorded diagonally, but read horizontally.

Nutrient requirements of the animals in terms of protein, energy, minerals and vitamins are the basis for scientific feeding. The total requirement of an animal includes two components (i) maintenance (ii) production. While maintenance requirement varies with body size of the animal, the requirement for production depends upon its physiological state and production levels.

Such recommendations are based on the results of a large number of feeding experiments, conducted throughout the world. Feeding standards developed by Nation Research Council (NRC) of USA and Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of UK, for livestock and poultry are considered to be the best general guides for computation of ration. However, limited investigations carried out in this country suggest that adoption of foreign standards always leaves a fair margin of safety so far as the feeding of Indian species are concerned. This owes mainly due to differences in size, breed, nutritional values of feeding stuffs and other practices in the agro-climatic conditions of this tropical country. Some efforts have been made by India scientists in this area.

The formulation of ration for various categories of livestock depends upon the nutrient requirements for a particular animal or group of animals and the feeds and fodders available for the purpose. Livestock feeds can be grouped into two major categories – Roughages and concentrates, on the basis of bulkiness and chemical composition and combination of both is essential for a balanced ration.

Roughages are the bulky feeds having crude fiber more than 18% and TDN less than 60% while, Concentrates are feed or feed mixture having crude fiber less than 18% and TDN more than 60%. They are rich in either energy or protein and accordingly are called as energy concentrates (when CP is less than 18%) or protein concentrates (when CP value exceeds 18%). Various energy concentrates are grains and seeds (maize, barley, sorghum etc.), milling byproducts (brans and chunis), roots (tapioca tubers, turnip, potatoes) and molasses.

Indian breeds of sheep have much lower adult weight (30-40kg) and growth rate in comparison to many foreign sheep breeds (70kg). Hence the requirements are lesser then foreign breeds.

1. Nutrient requirements for maintenance
On the basis of several balance studies and digestibility trials the requirements for Indian sheep breeds has been developed and calculations are made on the basis of 2.73 g of DCP per kg of metabolic body weight and TDN and ME requirements are 27.3 g and 98 Kcal per kg of metabolic body weight respectively. The requirements for different body weight are given in the table below:

Goats are valued as economical milk producer and main source for meat for a large section of population. The dry matter intake varies from 3% (Meat goat) to 4-6% (Dairy goat) in different breeds of India and it is higher than that of larger farm animals.

1. Nutrient requirements for maintenance

Adult body weight of goats may vary from 15 to 45 kg in different breeds. There are also does and bucks that weight up to 60kg. Nutrient requirements for maintenance of adult goats are, therefore given for body weights ranging from 15 to 60 kg. On an average for maintenance 76 g DM is required for each kg of metabolic body weight and similarly the requirements for DCP and TDN is 3 and 30 g, respectively.

2. Nutrient requirements for pregnant does

Since adult body weight as indicated already varies from 15 to 60 kg, the requirements for pregnant does are also given for body weights ranging from 15 to 60 kg.

Poor quality roughages includes the wheat straw, commonly fed to ruminants but unable to provide any DCP. Urea ammoniation method, not only improves the nutritive value of straw in terms of DCP and TDN, but it also improves the dry matter intake of animal by improving its palatability. In this method of urea ammoniation, one quintal of wheat straw is treated with 4 kg fertilizer grade urea (4%) by dissolving in 40 litre of water (moisture 40%). The dissolved urea is sprayed over several layers of wheat straw and mixed properly and then kept under airtight condition by covering it with polythene sheet for a period of 4 weeks. With the presence of enzyme urease the urea get broken down in to ammonia and carbon di oxide. This ammonia on one hand improves the nitrogen content of the straw and on another hand alkalinity (by ammonia and by ammonium hydroxide) reacts on the lingo-cellulosic bonds to loosen their strength. So by increasing the nitrogen content of the straw it increase the nutritive value of the straw in terms of increasing the DCP value of the straw and on another hand by reducing the bonds of lingo-cellulose it increase the digestibility of crude fiber and hence it also increase the energy (TDN) content of the straw.

In the cases of drought and flood when the feed resources made unavailable, creates the problem of animals feeding. In those cases unconventional methods and materials will have to be used to fulfil the hunger and nutrient requirements of animals to sustain them. 

Traditional methods of feeding
    1.    Use of by-products of commercial crops such as oil seed crops, grams etc. as well as drought resistant vegetation in combination with NPN source and molasses (as source of energy) for meeting the immediate nutritional requirements.

    2.     Certain varieties of tree leaves and extractions of inedible oil seeds can be used to meet the essential requirements of intact protein in ruminants. This proved to be successful during draught in many parts of India.
 
    3.    Large scale feeding of bagasse and molasses in combination with urea and mineral supplements may be adopted without any toxic effects. Some of the daily ration schedule that has been successfully tried is given below:

Pigs are highly prolific among meat producing livestock and also excellent to all other type of farm animals in the efficiency of converting feed into high quality pork. The Nutrient requirements expressed for the mono-gastric animals like poultry and pigs as percent of the diet or the amount per kg of the diet, since they are generally fed in groups rather than individual feeding practiced in case of cattle and buffaloes (where absolute requirements are given). The latest requirements available are NRC nutrient requirements for swine, 1998 (10th revised edition), BIS, 1986 specifications for pig feeds and ICAR, 1998 for growing and finishing swine. Similarly ARC requirements are also available. NRC requirements are on 90% DM basis and are for breeds like Large White Yorkshire, Landrace, Berkshire etc., while BIS specifications are on 100% DM basis and for indigenous pigs, improved pigs and crossbred pigs.

The requirements for a given nutrient is the minimum quantity of that nutrient that will maintain normal growth and reproduction, when all other nutrients are supplied in adequate quantities and at the same time, prevent the development of symptoms of nutritional deficiency.
 
The accurate way to express the nutrient requirements is in amount per day per animal. Poultry are fed in groups and hence, it is not practicable to express the requirements in amounts per day per animal. So, they are expressed in relation to energy content of the diet as poultry eats within limits to satisfy their energy needs. However, the estimation of energy content of the diet is not possible on routine basis and the calculated values may very much from estimated values. Because of these difficulties, the nutrient requirements of poultry are expressed on unit weight basis. 

Complete feed system is a system of ruminants feeding in which roughage and concentrate mixture are mixed homogenously in a predetermined ratio and processed in to pellet, briquette or block form to provide the animals a nutritionally balanced diet. Complete feed system is advantageous over conventional feed system as it reduces the cost of labour, transportation and storage of feed, besides ensuring uniform supply of nutrients and maintaining the optimum rumen environment due to the constant dietary roughage: concentrate ratio, which also avoids the selective feeding.

The undesirable constituents includes the toxicants and other adulterants in the feed which are not suppose to be there in the feed and presence of these substances either make the nutrients of feed less utilizable or even the feed become toxic for consumption by animals. Hence it is very essential to find out the presence and also the amount of that substances on which basis decision may be made that the particular feed stuff or ingredient is safe to be consume by the livestock or that has to be rejected. The common undesirable constituents of the feeds are given below in detail:

Plant diseases caused by variety of pathogens pose a serious challenge and economic threats to various agricultural crops all around the world. It has been evidenced that despite wide use of chemical pesticides in crop production, the losses due to pests and diseases are significant. Phytonematodes are one of the major groups of organisms that live in diverse habitat and continue to challenge variety of agricultural crops all around the world. Since early times the major agricultural crops have been plagued by these noxious nematodes that feed on various plant parts viz. roots, rhizome, sucker, tubers, seedlings, stem, leaves, buds, crowns and cause damage worth more than 100 billion dollars annually. The major crops severely affected by these pests are, vegetables, fruits, sugarcane, sugar beet, cotton, oil seed, pulses, tobacco, tea, coffee, cereals, spices, medicinal and aromatic plants.

Abstract

The rhizosphere or the zone of influence around roots harbors a multitude of microorganisms that are affected by both abiotic and biotic stresses. Among these are the dominant rhizobacteria that prefer living in close vicinity to the root or on its surface and play a crucial role in soil health and plant growth. Both free-living and symbiotic bacteria are involved in such specific ecological niches and help in plant matter degradation, nutrient mobilization and biocontrol of plant disease. While the rhizosphere as a domain of fierce microbial activity has been studied for over a century, the availability of modern tools in microbial ecology has now permitted the study of microbial communities associated with plant growth and development, in situ localization of important forms, as well as the monitoring of introduced bacteria as they spread in the soil and root environment. Plant-microbe researchers have studied the diversity of rhizobacteria in a variety of plants, cereals, legumes and others along with assessment of their functionality based on the release of enzymes (soil dehydrogenase, phosphatase, nitrogenase, etc.), metabolites (siderophores, antifungals, HCN, etc.), growth promoters (IAA,

Introduction

Soil supports richest number and kinds of microorganisms interacting with each other and thus by modification or alteration in soil conditions greatly influence the microbial community and their activity in soil ecosystem. Soil physico-chemical and the biological factors interact to provide rapidly changing ecological niches and microbial components fluctuate in response to change in soil conditions. There are large evidences that agricultural practices often favour antagonistic microorganisms (Cook and Baker,1983; Yarham,1979) and therefore, biological control of plant pathogens could be possible through manipulation of soil condition. Soil organic matter also has a profound influence on microorganisms in soil, particularly those, including some pathogens, saprophytic and obligate plant parasites. Soil organic matter is distributed at discrete sites within the soil and determines to a great extent which parts of pore space are occupied. 

Introduction

Biological-based crop protection against plant viruses aims to develop sustainable, non-chemical, crop management technologies that utilize natural-occurrants and phytotoxins to control economically important diseases. In this area the efforts were made since the realization that viruses can not be controlled directly unlike other pathogen.

At present in the absence of any direct control of the viruses, strategies so far have been adopted to control them indirectly; like controlling the vectors of viruses (insects, nematodes, fungi etc.), using barrier crops, and use of resistant cultivars. However, success had been very limited. As the biological sciences advanced, many biological systems were utilized to control the diseases in plants caused by viruses, promising among them is using apical-meristem culture techniques to produce virus free plantlets as starting material.

Agriculture is the main source of income of the rural masses in India and the disease accounts for more than 30% losses every year. According to a WHO estimate of 1990. There were 25 million cases of acute occupational pesticides poisoning in developing countries each year. ILO 1996 estimates suggests that out of 14% of all known occupational injuries 10% of all total injuries are caused by pesticides. Further more developing countries are a dustbin for the developed countries. More than 20, 000 tonnes of obsolete pesticides are dumped in Africa alone. The biopesticides are amenable to small scale and local production. Presently there is an increased awareness regarding environmental and food safety. The biopesticides as such can be used as an essential and fundamental component of integrated pest management. It helps to manage the disease which are difficult, otherwise to be managed and so also these control the pests resistant to conventional pesticides. Paulitz and Belanger (2001) has reviewed the potential of biological control in green house systems.

Systematic management of plant diseases dates back to 1885 with the invent of Bordeaux mixture by Milardet. Thereafter, a number of contact and systemic fungicides have been reported over the years for the management of various plant pathogens, of which many have become obsolete and many are still being used with excellence. However, the ecological hazards caused by the chemical fungicides have prompted scientists to search for other avenues of crop protection. Most of the conventional chemical and biological plant protection procedures, as well as the use of disease-resistant cultivars, tend towards the direct control of pests and diseases by their elimination. But these practices generally and particularly in case of monoculture crops like rice, raise problems. The risk of developing pesticide resistance in plant pathogens is enhanced by the long term use of the same chemical. The resistance genes of the plants can also be overcome by changes in the pathogens. Therefore the situation demands development of new strategies for plant protection which can supplement the use of resistance breeding and chemical control.

Abstract

Plant roots influence the biological, chemical and physical properties of rhizosphere soil. These effects are a consequence of their growth, their activity and the exudation of organic compounds from them. There is now considerable scope for the new ideas to be extended to the rhizosphere. The role of soil microorganisms in sustainable productivity has been well construed. In recent years, root inhabiting (rhizozosphere) bacteria (rhizobacteria) is gaining importance. The beneficial effects of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) has been variously attributed to their ability in improving the crop production, protection against phytopathogens, soil health and environmental quality. However, there is a need for isolation, identification and improvement of potent PGPR’s to utilize them ultimately as promising bio-inoculants. This review embodies some recent developments to evolve strategies for the better biotechnological exploitation of PGPR’s.

Abstract

Surveys made systematically in different remote places of Tamil Nadu brought to light more than 1000 indigenous techniques adopted for pest control in various crops of agriculture, horticulture and store grains. Target animals included array of insect species and animal pests namely rodents, mites, molluscs and microbes like nematodes and viruses. Various kinds of plant species reveal their modes of action distinctly.

INTRODUCTION

Plant diseases need to be managed for maintaining the quality and abundance of food, feed, and fiber produced by growers around the world. Different approaches may be used to prevent, mitigate or control plant diseases. Beyond good agronomic and horticultural practices, growers often rely heavily on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Such inputs to agriculture have contributed significantly to the spectacular improvements in crop productivity and quality over the past 100 years. However, the environmental pollution caused by excessive use and misuse of agrochemicals, as well as fear-mongering by some opponents of pesticides, has led to considerable changes in people’s attitudes towards the use of pesticides in agriculture. Today, there are strict regulations on chemical pesticidal use, and there is political pressure to remove the most hazardous chemicals from the market.

Vegetables have got an important place in agriculture development, human diet and economy of the country. All the developed and developing countries realized the importance of vegetables an essential diet due to medicinal and nutritional value for human health. There is a steady upward trend in vegetable production. China is ranking first in the world and currently produces 237 million tonne of vegetables. India has made a quantum jump in vegetable production securing the second position in the world. The total production of vegetable is more than 91 million tonne in the country. Diseases and pests are the most important factors for low vegetable production. Various fungi, bacteria, viruses, phytoplasmas, nematodes and weeds are responsible for causing diseases in vegetables resulting heavy reduction in yield and quality.

On August 6, 1945, the most dreadful among the weapons of mass destruction – the atom bomb – was dropped in the civilian area of Hiroshima. Three days later, another atom bomb was dropped in Nagasaki. In July 1955, Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein issued their famous manifesto seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons and appealing to all inhabitants of Planet Earth:
 
Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way is open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death.

In 1957, the Russell-Einstein Manifesto led to the birth of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, an organisation devoted to the causes of ending the nuclear peril and reminding scientists of their ethical responsibility for the consequences of their discoveries, particularly in the area of nuclear threat to human survival.

An ancient Chinese proverb says

If you are thinking one year ahead, plant rice
If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant trees
If you are thinking hundred years ahead, educate the people

Subramanya Bharati, a great Tamil poet, wrote decades ago that nutrition and education were the two legs of a human being — nutrition for the body and education for the mind. We must, therefore, foster a movement for integrating academic excellence and social relevance in the curricula of our educational institutions. Our universities should promote the growth of the science of ecotechnology, which is the product of the integration of traditional knowledge with frontier science. This will need a mind-set change in relation to the knowledge and wisdom of our tribal and rural families.

In the 1990s, I developed the Iwokrama Rain Forest Programme, which represents the world’s largest adventure in the sustainable management of rainforests. The local Amerindian population welcomed me to Iwokrama with a song, which translates thus:

Bhutan has developed the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) as a substitute for Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In this theory, GNH comprises spiritual and cultural values, including love of sport, music, dance and spiritual activities. This is a good departure from measuring happiness purely from the view point of money. I would like to elaborate on four pillars that are necessary to uphold sustainable human happiness.

Ecology

There is an increasing awareness of the need for adopting sustainable lifestyles which will not make a heavy demand on our life-support systems of land, water, biodiversity, forests, oceans and climate. In his book titled World on the Edge.1 Lester Brown has described how we still have time to prevent environmental and economic collapse. Recent calculations on the ecological footprint each one of us is leaving behind shows that our per capita consumption of natural resources is exceeding the biocapacity of our earth. Soon we will need two planets to meet the growing demand for land, water, forests and biodiversity. In this context, we should keep in view what Mahatma Gandhi said long ago: 

Norman Borlaug’s early upbringing in an Iowa farm and his experience of hardship during the US Depression of the early 1930s instilled in him the desire to bring science to address the problems of low farm productivity, poverty and hunger. After completing his Ph.D degree in Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota in 1942, he joined the Rockefeller Foundation’s agricultural programme in Mexico, leading to the birth of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). There he began his work on wheat, concentrating on the control of stem, stripe and leaf rusts, the important diseases of the crop. He introduced a multi-pronged approach to manage the rust fungus, including the development of composite varieties characterised by phonotypic identity but genotypic diversity with reference to resistance to different races of the pathogen, an approach conferring enduring resistance as a result of reduced pressure on the fungus to mutate and create more virulent strains.

The country is at long last becoming sensitive to the serious consequences of the growing rural-urban divide in terms of investment, infrastructure and opportunities for income and employment. The rural-urban divide also leads to an expanding rich-poor divide. Since crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry, and agro-processing are the main sources of rural livelihoods, the current agrarian crisis is adding to the problems of hunger, poverty and unemployment. According to the Union Planning Commission, we are off-track in achieving most of the UN Millennium Development Goals. A major cause for the growing rich-poor divide both between and within nations is unequal access to modern technology. Technology helps to achieve a paradigm shift from unskilled to skilled work and thereby move large numbers of the rural poor from the primary to the secondary and tertiary sectors of economic activity. If technology has been a major factor in promoting economic and social divides in the past, the challenge now lies in enlisting technology as an ally in the movement for economic, gender and social equity.

During his visit to India, President Barak Obama pointed out that our country is fortunate to have a youthful population with over half of the total population of 1.2 billion being under the age of 30. Out of the 600 million young persons, over 60 per cent live in villages. Most of them are educated. Gandhiji considered the migration of educated youth from villages to towns and cities as the most serious form of brain drain adversely affecting rural India’s development. He therefore stressed that we should take steps to end the divorce between intellect and labour in rural professions.

The National Commission on Farmers (NCF)(2004-06) emphasised the need for attracting and retaining educated youth in farming. The National Policy for Farmers, placed in Parliament in November 2007, includes the following goal of the new policy:

To introduce measures which can help to attract and retain youth in farming and processing of farm products for higher value addition, by making farming intellectually stimulating and economically rewarding.

The National Food Security Bill 2011, which is now on the website of the Union Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs for public comments, aims to make the Right to Food a legal right. During the last seven years, the country has witnessed a transition from political patronage to legal entitlements in the case of education, information, work and land rights in tribal areas. When finally enacted, the Food Security Bill will be the brightest jewel in the crown of Indian democracy. Therefore, public scrutiny of the draft Bill is important. The draft Bill mentions that its aim is “to provide for food and nutritional security in human life-cycle approach by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices, for people to live a life with dignity”. Unfortunately the Bill is its present form will not be able to fulfill this inspiring objective.

The legal commitment contained in the Bill implies that every child, woman and man should have physical and economic access to balanced diet on the basis of a life-cycle approach, i.e., from conception to cremation. Nutrition security involves access not only to the needed calories and protein, but also to micro-nutrients like iron, iodine, zinc, vitamin A, and vitamin B12. In addition, clean drinking water, sanitation and primary health care are essential for ensuring that food is properly assimilated in the body.

The post-independence history of our agriculture can be broadly grouped into four periods. Before describing them, I should mention that during the colonial era famines were frequent and Famine Commissions were abundant. The growth rate in food production from 1900 to 1947 was hardly 0.1 per cent. Most of the important institutional developments in agriculture emanated from the recommendations of Famine Commissions. The great Bengal Famine of 1942-43 provided the backdrop to India’s independence. It is to the credit of Independent India that famines of this kind have not been allowed to occur, although our population has grown from 350 million in 1947 to over a billion now.

‘To a people famishing and idle, the only acceptable form in which God can dare appear is work and promise of food as wages’ — these were the words of Mahatma Gandhi when he was healing the wounds arising from the Hindu-Muslim divide at Naokhali in 1946. He thus stressed the symbiotic bonds among work, income and food security.
 
Eradication of hunger and poverty is also the first among the UN Millennium Development Goals, which in my view represent a Global Common Minimum Programme for human security and well-being.
 
Achieving this goal is fundamental for achieving the other goals relating to education, gender equality, child mortality, control of HIV/ AIDS, malaria and other diseases and, above all, environmental sustainability. Unfortunately, progress in the reduction of hunger and poverty is poor in most developing countries excepting a few like China. FAO estimates that as a result of the rise in the prices of basic staples, about 75 million more people have been added to the list of those going to bed hungry during 2007. As a single nation, we in India have the largest number of malnourished persons in the world.

The pros and cons of wheat imports are now a matter of public, political and media concern and debate. I have been quoted as both favouring imports and opposing it. Since this issue is a complex one with short- and long-term implications, I would like to explain my personal position.

The wheat import plan announced by the Government of India is in response to the need for maintaining adequate food stocks both for the purpose of food security and for feeding the public distribution system (PDS). Following the Wheat Revolution in 1968, Indira Gandhi decided to build a sufficient buffer stock of foodgrains under government control in order to ensure that the basic staples are available at reasonable prices even under conditions of unfavourable monsoon. She was also deeply conscious of the linkage between food security and sovereignty in foreign policy. Maintaining adequate food reserves is an absolute must from the point of view of avoiding both panic purchase and famines, particularly at times when there are indications of aberrant monsoon behaviour. Some years ago the Government of India had over 60 million tonnes of foodgrain reserves and substantial quantities were exported to reduce the cost of maintaining stocks of that order.

The goal of food for all can be achieved only through sustained efforts in producing, saving and sharing food grains.

The Supreme Court of India has rendered great service by arousing public, professional and political concern about the co-existence of rotting grain mountains and mounting hungry mouths. In several African countries hunger is increasing because food is either not available in the market, or is too expensive for the poor. Food inflation is showing no signs of abating. In our country, chronic hunger is largely poverty induced. The progress made in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goal No. 1, namely, reducing hunger and poverty by half by the year 2015, has been far from satisfactory and the available data indicate that we may have years and years to go before we achieve this target. Globally, the number of persons going to bed hungry has increased from 800 million in the year 2000 to over one billion. The position is likely to get worse in the near term, since the prices of wheat, rice and maize are going up in the global market. Adverse growing conditions in Russia, Canada and Australia are partly responsible for the recent escalation in grain prices. Nearer home, Pakistan is recovering from serious floods. According to a recent UN report, 3.2 million ha of standing crops and 200,000 heads of livestock have been lost. 

The President of India, in her address to both Houses of Parliament on 4 June 2009 announced:
 
My Government proposes to enact a new law — the National Food Security Act — that will provide a statutory basis for a framework which assures food security for all. Every family below the poverty line in rural as well as urban areas will be entitled, by law, to 25 kilograms of rice or wheat per month at Rs. 3 per kilogram. This legislation will also be used to bring about broader systemic reform in the public distribution system.

Since then, various arms of government as well as civil society organisations have been working on methods of redeeming this pledge.  The National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Sonia Gandhi has recently provided a broad framework for achieving the goal of food for all and forever.  The suggestions of NAC include the initiation as soon as possible of special programmes all over the country to insulate from hunger and malnutrition pregnant and nursing mothers, 0-3-years-old infants, street children, destitutes, old and infirm persons, patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and leprosy, physically or mentally handicapped persons and other disadvantaged citizens.

Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech delivered on 26 February 2010 announced: ‘We are now ready with the draft Food Security Bill which will be placed in the public domain very soon.’  Although no official draft has been placed on the website of the concerned Ministry, several leading organisations and individuals have questioned the adequacy of the steps proposed to be taken under the Bill for achieving the goal of a hunger-free India.  Based on Article 21 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court of India has rightly regarded the right to food as a fundamental requirement for the right to life.  Many steps have been taken since Independence to adopt Mahatma Gandhi’s advice for an antyodaya approach to hunger elimination. In spite of numerous measures and social safety net programmes, the number of undernourished persons has increased from about 210 million in 1990-92 to 252 million in 2004-06.  About half of the world’s under-nourished children are in India.  Also, there has been a general decline in per capita calorie consumption in recent decades.  Grain mountains and hungry millions continue to co-exist.

Biodiversity provides the building blocks for sustainable food, health and livelihood security systems. It is the feedstock for both the biotechnology industry and a climate-resilient farming system. Because of its importance for human well-being and survival, a Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Convention’s triple goals are conservation, sustainable use, and equitable sharing of benefits. CBD defines biological diversity as follows:

Variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Demographic explosion, environment pollution, habitat destruction, enlarging ecological footprint, widespread hunger and unsustainable lifestyles, and potential adverse changes in climate all threaten the future of human food, water, health and livelihood security systems. 2010 appears to mark the beginning of uncertain weather patterns and extreme climate behaviour. Events like temperature rise, drought, flood, coastal storms and rise in sea level are likely to present new challenges to the public, professionals and policy makers. Biodiversity has so far served as the feedstock for sustainable food and health security and can play a similar role in the development of climate-resilient farming and livelihood systems. Biodiversity is also the feedstock for the biotechnology industry. Unfortunately, genetic erosion and species extinction are now occurring at an accelerated pace due to habitat destruction, alien species invasion and spread of agricultural systems characterised by genetic homogeneity. Genetic homogeneity increases genetic vulnerability to biotic and abiotic stresses. To generate widespread interest in biodiversity conservation, the UN General Assembly has declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity.

It was in 1968 that the term Green Revolution was coined by Dr. William Gaud of USA to describe advances in agriculture arising from productivity improvement. Even in 1968, I concluded that if farm ecology and economics go wrong, nothing else will go right in agriculture.  I expressed my views in the following words in my lecture at the Indian Science Congress Session held at Varanasi in January 1968:

Exploitive agriculture offers great dangers if carried out with only an immediate profit or production motive. The emerging exploitive farming community in India should become aware of this. Intensive cultivation of land without conservation of soil fertility and soil structure would lead, ultimately, to the springing up of deserts. Irrigation without arrangements for drainage would result in soils getting alkaline or saline. Indiscriminate use of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides could cause adverse changes in biological balance as well as lead to an increase in the incidence of cancer and other diseases, through the toxic residues present in the grains or other edible parts. Unscientific tapping of underground water will lead to the rapid exhaustion of this wonderful capital resource left to us through ages of natural farming.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has alerted developing countries about possible steep rises in food prices during 2011, if steps are not taken immediately to significantly increase the production of major food crops. According to FAO, ‘with the pressure on world prices of most commodities not abating, the international community must remain vigilant against further supply shocks in 2011’. World cereal production is likely to contract by 2 per cent and global cereal stocks may decline sharply. The price of sugar has reached a 30-year high, while international prices of wheat have increased by 12 per cent in the first week of December 2010 as compared to their November average.

The quantitative and qualitative dimensions of under- and malnutrition prevailing in our country are well known.  The Steering Committee of a high level panel of experts on food and nutrition set up under my chairmanship to advise the UN Committee on Food Security (CFS) has recently concluded that what we need urgently is a comprehensive, coordinated approach to tackling chronic, hidden and transitory hunger, and not piecemeal approaches.

The National Food Security Bill, 2011 designed to make access to food a legal right, is the last chance to convert Gandhiji’s vision of a hunger-free India into reality.

Mahatma Gandhi’s articulation of the role of food in a human being’s life in his speech at Noakhali, now in Bangladesh, in 1946 is the most powerful expression of the importance of making access to food a basic human right.  Gandhiji also wanted that the pathway to ending hunger should be opportunities for everyone to earn their daily bread, since the process of ending hunger should not lead to the erosion of human dignity.  Unfortunately, this message was forgotten after the country became independent in 1947, and government departments started referring to those being provided some form of social support as “beneficiaries”.  The designation “beneficiary” is also being applied to the women and men who toil for 8 hours in sun and rain under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGA).  Sixty-five years after Gandhiji’s Noakhali speech, we find that India is the home for the largest number of under- and malnourished children, women and men in the world.  There are more persons going to bed partially hungry now, than the entire population of India in 1947.

It was in April-May 1968 that the country witnessed the wonderful spectacle of large arrivals of wheat grain in the mandis of the Punjab like Moga and Khanna. Wheat production in the country rose to nearly 17 million tonnes that year, from the previous best harvest of 12 million tonnes. Indira Gandhi released a special stamp titled “Wheat Revolution” in July 1968, to mark this new phase in our agricultural evolution. The nation rejoiced at our coming out of a “ship to mouth” existence. Later in 1968, Dr. William Gaud of the U.S. referred to the quantum jumps in production brought about by semi-dwarf varieties of wheat and rice as a “Green Revolution.” This term has since come to symbolise a steep rise in productivity and, thereby, of production of major crops.

Wheat production this year may reach a level of 85 million tonnes, in contrast to the 7 million tonnes our farmers harvested at the time of Independence in 1947. I visited several grain mandis in Moga, Khanna, Khananon and other places in the Punjab in April 2011 and experienced concurrently a feeling of ecstasy and agony. It was heart-warming to see the great work done by our farm men and women under difficult circumstances when, often, they had to irrigate the fields at night due to lack of availability of power during the day.

Three years after the establishment of the Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), a global conference was held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for promoting environmentally sustainable development in all spheres of human activity. At this UN Conference on Environment and Development, generally referred to as the Earth Summit, an Agenda 21 was adopted to provide guidelines for mainstreaming ecology in all major research and development programmes. In Agenda 21, pride of place has been given to the management of aquatic resources from both the quantitative and qualitative aspects. 2012 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Rio conference.  It will be useful to prepare a balance sheet indicating where we have succeeded and where we have failed in implementing Agenda 21 in the area of inland and marine fisheries, as well as integrated coastal zone management.

As it is well understood, food and drinking water are the first among the hierarchical needs of a human being. Growing population, expanding ecological footprint, diminishing per capita land and water availability, increasing biotic and abiotic stresses, and, above all, the prospects for adverse changes in temperature, precipitation and sea level as a result of climate change, emphasise the need for keeping issues relating to agriculture high on the professional, political and public agenda. The multiple roles of agriculture in food production, improving nutrition and health, and climate change mitigation are now well recognised scientifically, but are yet be integrated into coherent national policies and strategies. Opportunities for generating synergy among agriculture, nutrition and health are great and this conference is therefore a timely one.

Transgenic varieties combine genes from totally unrelated species. For example, we can now transfer genes for salinity tolerance to rice from mangroves. The recombinant DNA technology is part of the evolution of genetics starting with the rediscovery of Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance in 1900. In the early part of the twentieth century, various techniques like irradiation, use of chemical mutagens and doubling of chromosomes through colchicine treatment were adopted to develop novel genetic combinations.  Today such gene transfer can be done with both precision and ease through recombinant DNA technology. Both molecular marker-assisted breeding and gene transfer now play a very important role in developing genetic combinations to meet the challenges rising from biotic (i.e., pest and diseases) and abiotic (i.e., drought, flood, sea level rise, etc.) stresses. They will gain further importance in the emerging era of climate change. Varieties developed by marker-assisted selection are also eligible for certification under the protocol for products produced through organic farming.

On the basis of a proposal I had made three years ago, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) launched a Global Soil Partnership for Food Security and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at a Multi-stakeholder Conference held in Rome in September 2011. Even with all the advances made in capture and culture fisheries, nearly 90 per cent of human food requirements will have to come from the soil. Land is becoming a diminishing resource for agriculture, inspite of the growing understanding that the future of food security will depend upon the sustainable management of land resources as well as the conservation of prime farm land for agriculture. The National Commission on Farmers emphasised in its report submitted in 2006 the urgent need for replacing the 1894 Land Acquisition Law with a twenty-first century legislation that safeguards the interests of farmers and farming.  Jairam Ramesh is to be complemented for introducing in Parliament a National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill which pays attention not only to acquisition, but also to the rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected families.

In 2009, the world celebrated the 200th anniversary of the life and work of Charles Darwin, a transformational scientist who brought about a revolution in our understanding of evolution.  Evolution through natural selection among living organisms leading to the survival of the fittest was a concept which was alien to Christian thought in Darwin’s time, as faith was strong in the divine creation of the living forms of our planet.  Evolution of higher forms of life, including human beings, from fish and other forms of living organisms was an accepted view in ancient Indian thought, as exemplified by the ten forms of manifestation on earth of the Hindu god Vishnu.

“Variety is the spice of life” is a common saying.  Variation is a must for selection to occur.  Today, we are confronted with the prospect of human-induced changes in climate, leading to adverse variations in temperature, precipitation, flood and sea level.  We will have to be prepared for facing the consequences of drought, flood and coastal storms more frequently.

The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is the core of the many climate agreements arrived at so far, including the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and the Bali Plan of Action (2007).  The differentiated responsibilities aim to meet the special needs of developing countries for accelerated and equitable economic development.  Both at Copenhagen and Cancun, the industrialised countries proposed limiting the rise in mean temperature to 2ºC above normal.  Even this seems to be unattainable in the context of the present rate of emission of greenhouse gases (GHG).  Hence, the principle of common but differentiated impact of the 2º change in mean temperature is essential for prioritising climate victims. For example, small islands like Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean, Maldives, Lakshadweep, and Andaman and Nicobar, as well as the Sunderbans in West Bengal, Kuttanad in Kerala and many other coastal locations will all face the prospect of submergence.  Floods will become more serious and frequent in the Indo-Gangetic plains.  Drought-induced food and water scarcity will become more acute. South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the small islands will be the worst victims.  In contrast, countries in the northern latitudes will benefit due to longer growing seasons and higher yields.