New Delhi: The first Agriculture Deputies Meeting under the Agriculture Working Group (AWG), G20 spanning across three days, concluded today on 15th February, 2023.The event was an amalgamation of experiences rich in culture, cuisine, and history, and the greater responsibility of participating in meaningful deliberations during the meetings.

Countries’ intervention on the proposed agenda by the Indian Presidency was well received and discussed. The final day of the event started with technical theme- wise sessions wherein, deliberations were held on four themes covering: “food security and nutrition”, “sustainable agriculture with climate smart approach”, “inclusive agricultural value chains and food systems”, and “digitalization for agricultural transformation”.

For discussion on technical session of Food Security and Nutrition, the opening remarks were delivered by Smt. Shubha Thakur, Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) followed by context setting by World Food Programme (WFP). Dr. AbhilakshLikhi, Additional Secretary, DA&FW presented the Global Framework on Food Security and Nutrition, followed by an introduction to the Millet International Initiative for Research and Awareness (MIIRA) by Smt. Shubha Thakur, Joint Secretary, DA&FW.

Sh. Franklin L. Khobung, Joint Secretary, DA&FW delivered the opening remarks for technical session on Sustainable Agriculture with Climate Smart Approach, followed by context setting by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Technical session on Inclusive Agricultural Value Chains and Food Systems was opened by Dr. AbhilakshLikhi, Additional Secretary, DA&FW and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) set the context for discussion.

For technical session on Digitalisation for Agricultural Transformation, opening remarks were delivered by Dr. P.K. Meherda, Additional Secretary, DA&FW. The discussion context was set by ICRISAT.

During each theme-based technical session, there was an open house discussion involving intellectually rich exchange of ideas, suggestions and observations. Insightful presentations paved way for agricultural transformation and importance of digitalization in agriculture with a special emphasis on smallholder farmers.

The session co-chair Dr. SmitaSirohi, Joint Secretary, DA&FW, summed up each session, highlighting the concrete points made during the sessions.

Concluding remarks and way forward was presented by the session chair Sh. Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, DA&FW emphasizing the need to have greater convergence and collaboration among the G20 member countries on agricultural research and development aspects. The chair assured to carry forward the discussions on G20 agricultural issues in the upcoming AWG meetings.

The programme ended with a video showcasing the glimpses of the various events of the last 3 days, as a memoir for the participants to cherish their memorable visit to India.