BRICS meet to focus on strengthening agro-biodiversity to ensure nutritional security

New Delhi: The BRICS nations have pitched in for closer ties in strengthening 'Agro Biodiversity for food and nutrition security, the agriculture ministry said on Saturday.

While discussing the issue virtually on August 12-13, top officials of Britain, Russia, India, China and South Africa deliberated on the theme "BRICS Partnership for Strengthening Agro Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Security".

They also discussed in depth the joint declaration of the eleventh meeting of BRICS and the Action Plan for 2021-24 for agricultural cooperation and the BRICS Agriculture Research Platform. This BRICS Working Group meeting will endorse the Action Plan for 2021-24 for adoption in the BRICS meeting.

The Working Group also underscored that a strong agricultural research base in BRICS countries needs to be harnessed. Facilitating the transfer of technologies from lab to land to provide improved solutions for enhanced productivity, especially in the face of climate change, maintaining agrobiodiversity and ensuring sustainable use of natural resources was acknowledged, the officials said.

The implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development noted that BRICS countries are well-positioned to take a leading role in helping to achieve the objectives of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals to eradicate hunger and poverty, they added.

The BRICS Agriculture Research Platform has been developed by India to promote cooperation in the areas of agricultural research, extension, technology transfer, training and capacity building.

The intention to make the BRICS Agriculture Research Platform functional and encourage research cooperation to improve the use and application of agricultural technologies for meeting the needs of producers and processors was also expressed, a government statement said.