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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Food security act should have provision for distribution of millets: MS Swaminathan

Food security act should have provision for distribution of millets: MS Swaminathan

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published Published on Jan 6, 2011   modified Modified on Jan 6, 2011
Eminent scientist M S Swaminathan has said the new National Food Security Act should include a provision for distribution of millets through the public distribution system. This measure will be implemented keeping in mind the possible reductions in yield of rice and wheat due to climate change.

Speaking at a climate change symposium during the 98th Indian Science Congress 2011 held at SRM University on Wednesday, Swaminathan elaborated on the measures that may be implemented to solve food security problems caused by climate change.

"For each one degree Centigrade rise in the mean temperature in India, the wheat yield is likely to reduce by 6 million tones every year," he said. "By current prices, that would be a loss of $1.5 billion per annum." He also added that the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) projects that that in a similar situation, the wheat yield of the entire South Asia is likely to fall by 44 per cent.

Swaminathan, emphasised on the need to turn to deepwater floating rice production for flood prone areas. "Deepwater floating rice plants have the ability to survive in submerged conditions. In fact, these plants tend to automatically elongate themselves with the rise in water levels," he said.

With incidences of crop failures likely to increase with climate change, seed vaults in permafrost conditions are touted as a energy-efficient method of preservation of seeds for long periods. "The best part about storage in permafrost condition is that no electricity is required for storage due to such low temperatures." One such seed vault has already been built by DRDO in Chang La, Himalayas, modelled along the lines of seed vaults built by the Norwegians in the Arctic circle.

The government is also trying to increase the percentage of land under production. "For this," announced Swaminathan, "the government is planning to convert the land within radius of the Indira Gandhi Canal in Rajasthan to a special agriculture zone."

But the world can only adjust to climate change when the people are involved in the management and mitigation of the consequent disasters, pointed out Swaminathan. " To help everybody adapt to it, the government is training one male and female member of all village panchayats as climate risk managers."


The Times of India, 6 January, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Food-security-act-should-have-provision-for-distribution-of-millets-MS-Swaminathan/articleshow/7225604.cms


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