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He was inaugurating the M S Swaminathan Scientific Research Foundation-Tata Virtual Academy for Food Security and Rural Prosperity. He said the conditions of those living in rural areas should change if poverty had to be eradicated. India and Sri Lanka, which had attained self-sufficiency in food, should explore the emerging markets in Europe, East Asia, the US and parts of Africa, which were prosperous, he added.
The challenge in doing so was how to use the scarce resources like land and water in a judicious manner, he said adding that the research done at the M S Swaminathan Foundation was a pathfinder in this regard. The Sri Lankan government had invited Agricultural Scientist M S Swaminathan to his country soon after it assumed charge to advise it on how to modernise agriculture. The scientist had made a number of suggestions and the Sri Lankan Agriculture ministry had taken steps to implement several of them, he said. The island government had opened dedicated marketing centres for rural products, through which farmers were getting fair prices for their products, he said. His government was also contemplating a bill to set up community councils headed by community workers at grassroots to transform the rural economy. Wickremesinghe said the basic needs of mankind were food, shelter and clothing. While shelter was met with local sourcing, the world had to look upto others for food and clothing, he pointed out. India and Sri Lanka were traditional exporters of cloth and had now become the exporter of foodgrains, he said.
The MSSRF has tied-up with the Tata group and agencies like Indian Space Research Organisation, India Meteorological department, National Remote Sensing Agency, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and National Informatics Centre for the project. The project envisages effective linkages like 'lab to lab, lab to land, land to lab and land to land' with a view to empowering India's rural population with knowledge and improving their quality of life, he said.
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Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, during his Chennai visit on August 23, stressed the need for transfer of technology from lab to land to free the agriculturists from the clutches of subsistence farming and to cater to the needs of emerging markets.
