{"id":34938,"date":"2018-10-31T14:31:01","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T09:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=34938"},"modified":"2018-10-31T14:31:01","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T09:01:01","slug":"solving-food-challenges-with-more-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/solving-food-challenges-with-more-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Solving food challenges with more research:\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/todays-paper\/tp-opinion\/solving-food-challenges-with-more-research\/article19754690.ece\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Solving food challenges with more research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Context<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The article discusses the importance of scientific research for food production and the need for empowerment of women in agriculture.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Brief overview<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The capacity to produce enough quality food is falling behind human numbers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Food production in the region must keep pace, even as environment sustainability and economic development are ensured.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The answer to these challenges lies in research for sustainable development.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the second goal of the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals says: \u201cEnd hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Why is investing in scientific research for food production important?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s fivefold increase in grain production over the past 50 years is largely the result of strong scientific research that has focused on high-yielding crop varieties, better agronomic practices, and pro-farmer policies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, India continues to face challenges such as food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly in rural areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Providing world\u2019s growing urban population with safe and healthy food requires both a rural and a peri-urban agricultural movement &#8211; a huge challenge, but also an opportunity for ingenuity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Integrating agricultural production, nutrition, and health is emerging as a key focal point throughout Asia, with policymakers shifting their attention to the role of biodiversity and the power of local farming systems to improve nutritional status.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a potential in targeting underused crops such as millets, pulses, and vegetables as a sustainable means of increasing agricultural production and improving nutrition and health in high-need areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Food Security Act of 2013 was welcome, as was the inclusion of millets in the Public Distribution System as millets are superior to common grains in many ways and are also climate-resilient.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bio-fortification is also important in overcoming hidden hunger caused by micronutrient deficiencies such as iron, iodine, zinc, vitamin A, and vitamin B12.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b> Is empowerment of women in agriculture important?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Studies show that women make up nearly half of agricultural laborers, yet they carry out approximately 70% of all farm work.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Women are among the most disadvantaged because they are typically employed as marginal workers, occupying low-skilled jobs such as sowing and weeding.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research shows that empowering women is one of the best ways to improve nutrition.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research needs to continue focussing on the needs of women farmers to ensure that they are the direct recipients of development impacts, such as access to markets and income, to improve theirs and their children\u2019s access to adequate and diversified diets.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is crucial to continue to identify issues and seek evidence-based solutions through research.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Way forward<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Building on the momentum of recent efforts by the government to improve understanding of India\u2019s nutritional situation, there is considerable potential in building partnerships to extend reach of research for development and to improve the connections between agricultural and nutritional research with extension services and policy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking a multi-sectoral approach that links agricultural and nutritional outcomes will help India sustainably grow, feed its people, and maintain the agricultural sector over the coming decades.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s research community is poised to be a leader in meeting new food challenges by increasing food quantity and quality to improve food security and nutrition.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The world needs to tap into India\u2019s research excellence to experiment, innovate, share knowledge, and scale up effective solutions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Solving food challenges with more research:\u00a0 Context The article discusses the importance of scientific research for food production and the need for empowerment of women in agriculture. Brief overview The capacity to produce enough quality food is falling behind human numbers. Food production in the region must keep pace, even as environment sustainability and economic&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/solving-food-challenges-with-more-research\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Solving food challenges with more research:\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-test-1","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704817055},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34938\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}