A high level international selection committee has been constituted, under the chairmanship of Prof. M.S Swaminathan to decide the name of 1st World Agriculture Prize Laureate. Prof. Swaminathan himself is the Jury Chair of the World Food Prize (considered equal to Noble Prize). The World Agriculture Prize will be a single prize of $100,000 and will be launched with a special session, named “Swaminathan Global Dialogue on Climate Change and Food Security” on Oct 25, 2018, as part of the Global Agriculture Leadership Summit in New Delhi. The special session on climate change and food security has been incepted with a thought to invite the laureates of food and agriculture world to participate in the World Agriculture Prize event and deliberate on this burning issue to come out with a blue print for climate resilient agriculture in a sustainable manner to safeguard our future generations.
India has come a long way from the pre-Green Revolution days of ‘ship to mouth’ to a situation now, where self-sufficiency has been achieved in almost all areas of agriculture production. Over the years, India has taken leadership position in the world agriculture and is now is in a position to benefit the developing world with its experiences and diversity of learning through Green Revolution in food production, White Revolution in milk, Blue Revolution in fisheries and Golden Revolution in horticulture production. As India is strongly positioning itself in global scenario, it is high time for India to recognize the efforts of doyens in agriculture and especially those who have contributed to the global food security. The institution of World Agriculture Prize and starting the series of Global Dialogue on Climate Change and Food Security will provide great avenues to India and the world to learn from experiences and success stories of developed nations and replicate them in Indian and developing world context to deal with the challenge of climate extremes and ensure sustainable global food security.
With this vision to recognize the visionaries, who have served the humanity through agriculture, Dr. MJ Khan, Chairman, Indian Council of Food and Agriculture declared today in New Delhi that ICFA is going to launch World Agriculture Award. The Award to be presented annually to an individual or institution, who played seminal role in transforming agriculture globally and saving the humanity from the curse of hunger or malnutrition. Considering the ever-increasing population, changing climatic pattern, shrinking resource base and increasing disposable incomes resulting in higher demand for safe and quality food, agriculture is continuously evolving to support the humankind. Developing and underdeveloped nations in order to boost food production, need cooperation, collaboration and learning of global experiences. Youth are moving away from farming and educated class sees farming as last option. They need role models and inspirations said Dr. Khan.
Dr. Ameenah Faqim, Hon’ble former President of the Republic of Mauritius; Dr. HK Bhanwala, Chairman, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development; Ms. M. Ann Tutwiler, Director General, Bioversity International, Rome, Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director, Cairo Institute and former Vice President, World Bank; Dr. Ruby Rabbinge, Special Envoy – Food Security, Government of Netherlands; Dr. Shenggen Fan, Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute; Dr. I. Mayaki, former Prime Minister, Niger; Mr. Mustafa Kamal, Hon’ble Minister of Planning, Government of Bangladesh, Sh. Anand Mahindra, chairman, Mahindra Group and Sh. JP Meena, Secretary – Food Processing, Government of India are the jury members for selecting the agriculture prize laureate.
