Indian Agriculture Minister hails concept of "Food Security Army"

[The Future]

Indian Agriculture Minister hails concept of "Food Security Army"

[opsec]

He said FSA for macro-level mechanisation of farming activities should be accepted as a ‘national model’ for achieving food security.

I must be missing something. I don't see how making their food supply dependent on the oil supply is going to give them food security given that we are on the cusp of peak oil.

[Atash Hagmahani]

That's a huge problem for the Indians. When I was a boy, they were barely feeding themselves, on a combination of Green Revolution seed, and traditional farm labor. Now there are rather more of them than there were then. I would bet that, unofficially, India has passed up China in population.

[The Future]

Also, much to their regret later, GMOs are making serious headway in India.

[Atash Hagmahani]

Yes, we've heard--it's prompted a lot of farm suicides (they can't afford seed, and couldn't save any). Plus, too many young people have left the farms, reducing the labor pool...but they can't really afford tractors and fuel to run them either.

It is a precarious situation. 

[The Future]

but the reason i posted this...isn't the term "army" ominous?

[Atash Hagmahani]

but the reason i posted this...isn't the term "army" ominous?

Laugh. If it's being run by a provincial university I doubt that it's really all that militant. It's just a name. If this bothers you, you probably would have been deeply troubled by vintage Maoist propaganda from China or for that matter the Soviet Union.

Once when we lived in a neighborhood with a lot of older, relatively poorer Chinese immigrants, someone delivered someone else's newspaper to us. The headlines were astonishing to outsiders (and yes, extremely militant, although to the credit of the local culture, it is more posturing than fact). My wife smiled as she read it and said "You know, back in China, I would have believed all this".

The funny thing is, sometimes it's not a matter of relative freedom so much as perspective.

[The Future]

well with food security on the the decline, using such a name might make the transition to food grabbing "easier"....that is what I mean by ominous.  Perhaps others would call it Freudian (although that wouldn't be accurate).

In other news India Rejects First GM Vegetable, Hampering Monsanto

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- India’s government rejected the nation’s first genetically modified food after protests by farmers, hampering the expansion of seed makers including Monsanto Co. in the world’s second-most populous nation.

“There is no overriding food security argument for Bt brinjal,” or genetically modified eggplant, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said at a press conference in the capital, New Delhi, yesterday. “Our objective is to restore public confidence and trust in Bt brinjal.” A moratorium will be imposed until safety studies are carried out “to the satisfaction of the scientific community,” he said.

[silverseeds]

but the reason i posted this...isn't the term "army" ominous?

  I agree with what you added after this. It most likely IS a set up for future possible moves.

  Check out the Kusa seed site I listed awhile back. A bit off topic but, a indian plant breeder bred some barleys with amazing potential. for poor soils, and non irrigated. Some even out producing the green revolution crops which were bred for chemicals, essentially. When this project proved able to better feed many people then they were able to before, the indian government swooped in destroyed the project and materials, and discredited the man who helped bring it about. The only reason we have the barleys from this project we do, is before the project was erased, they sent some of the varieties to Kusa. Before the destruction there were many many many more. My point in adding this to the conversation, is this story is 25 years old first of all, and just one of dozens of things, pointing out clearly to me, that there is work AWAY from food security. Most things labeled as FOR food security today are often the exact opposite.

 I have little doubt this story is the same, even if it starts out well.

[The Future]

Thanks for the KUSA reminder.  I need to trade some computer digits (money) for these rare grains. How do you seperate the grain from the plant?  This is my main reason not to deal with grains much....

[opsec]

If you have kids you can stuff the heads into a pillow case, tie shut, and tell the kids to have a pillow fight.

[The Future]

that is abuse man.

[The Future]

More on GMO in India:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Pawar-not-with-Ramesh--GM-key-to-food-security--need-pvt-sector-research-too/581275

"Days after Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh overruled experts to put on hold the release of Bt brinjal and said biotech research could not be left to the private sector, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said that genetically modified crops could solve the country’s food security problem....The country will have to rely on modern science for its food security needs. Even the Green Revolution in the country benefited from the then modern seed technology,” Pawar told reporters on the sidelines of a conference of vice-chancellors of agricultural universities and directors of all ICAR institutes...."