CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) celebrated the “World Food Day 2023” on CFTRI campus here on the theme “Water is life, water is food, leave no one behind”.
Water is essential to life on Earth and covers about 71% of its surface. Only 2.5% of water is fresh, suitable for drinking, agriculture, and most industrial uses. Water is a driving force for people, economies, and nature and the foundation of our food. Agriculture accounts for 72% of global freshwater withdrawals, but fresh water is not infinite like all natural resources. Rapid population growth, urbanisation, economic development, and climate change are putting the planet’s water resources under increasing stress, according to a press release here.
At the same time, freshwater resources per person have declined by 20% in the past decades and water availability and quality are deteriorating fast due to decades of poor use and management, over-extraction of groundwater, pollution, and climate change. Competition for this priceless resource is increasing as water scarcity becomes an ever-increasing cause of conflict. Around 600 million people who depend, at least partially, on aquatic food systems for a living are suffering the effects of pollution, ecosystem degradation, unsustainable practices and climate change, the release added.
Dr. N.G. Malleshi, a well-known scientist in the area of millet research and former Head, Grain Science and Technology, CSIR-CFTRI, who was the chief guest, inaugurated the programme by watering a plant sapling. Dr. Malleshi spoke on“Mainstreaming Millets for Food and Nutritional Security”. He told the gathering about replacing the high water crops with millets for attaining sustainable goals and achieving water conservation as water is life for a better tomorrow and India believes in “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam”.
He emphasized the development of new generation of millet-based value added food product to attract more consumers towards millet consumption which has lots of health benefits and stressed on more research and the scientific evidence to prove the other health benefits of millets and appreciated the government of India stand on promoting millets in international forums.
Dr. Sridevi Annapurna Singh, Director, CSIR-CFTRI, who presided over the function, emphasized that it is everyone’s responsibility to conserve water for better tomorrow. She said millet agriculture is one of the right paths to conserve water and explained the importance of millet research and technologies that were developed at CFTRI pertaining to millets and its products.
