India to promote nutritious cereal products for public health: Narendra Tomar

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has urged the ASEAN member countries to support India's efforts in increasing the production, processing, value addition and consumption of millets.

Tomar said that India would promote nutritious cereal products for the health and nutrition of the people and emphasized closer regional cooperation with ASEAN countries for agricultural development.

He was addressing the 7th ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry (AIMMAF) virtually on Wednesday. Agriculture Ministers of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam also participated in the meeting.

Tomar, in his opening remarks, reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of keeping ASEAN at the centre of India's Act East Policy.

He also emphasized mutually close regional cooperation with ASEAN to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth for agricultural development in the region.

He referred to the importance of millet as a nutritious food.

The progress in implementation of various programmes and activities under the Medium Term Action Plan of ASEAN-India Cooperation (2021-25) was reviewed.

The meeting also welcomed the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations. In the meeting, the commitment to ASEAN-India cooperation in agriculture and forestry was reaffirmed, according to an official release.

It was said in the meeting that in order to mitigate the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring a seamless flow of safe and nutritious agricultural products to ASEAN and India, it was necessary to take continuous measures under ASEAN-India cooperation for the implementation of post-pandemic recovery.

Tomar committed to enhancing India's cooperation with ASEAN in food security, nutrition, climate change adaptation, digital farming, nature-friendly agriculture, food processing, value chain, agricultural marketing and capacity building.