India has a decade to meet the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations (UN) for the year 2030.
Interventions in the agriculture sector have a massive role to play in achieving these goals. Along these global targets, India has set its own priorities and targets for the farmers and the agriculture sector. While most of the UN’s sustainable development goals have some relevance to the farming and agriculture sector, zero hunger and responsible consumption and production have a direct bearing on the agriculture sector. These goals have been conceived to eradicate hunger, ensure food security and promote sustainable production and consumption. There is synergy between the global agenda and India’s own priorities to increase farmer incomes and promote sustainable agricultural practices. This can be achieved by deploying a mechanism that focuses on resource efficiency at the farm level.
Our NRCP program focuses on this very aspect. It not only ensures better economics for farmers but also promoters environment-friendly agriculture practices. Our flagship program, DSR, for instance, helps reduce water consumption by about 30 per cent (which is about 0.9 million litres of water per acre), has less methane emissions and is, therefore, more sustainable. This is in addition to the cost benefits farmers have using the DSR technique.