GUWAHATI, Dec 19 - �Agriculture is the single largest employer in the world, providing livelihoods for 40 per cent of global population. In changing dynamics, farmers, both men and women, who toil in rain and sun, need both profits and prestige for the vocation. In agriculture the term �PPP� stands for profit and prestige for peasants.�
Delivering the 14th Dr Amitabh Chowdhury annual memorial lecture at Pragjyoti Cultural Complex here today, Chair Professor of NABARD and former Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Prof (Dr) Subbanna Ayyappan said it was imperative to lay emphasis on inclusive agricultural growth leading to a resilient, globally competitive and profitable agriculture.
Dr Ayyappan was delivering the talk on the topic �Agriculture: The best of culture�.
�There can be no culture without agriculture. Every sphere of life has recognised food to be paramount and sacrosanct, and we, farmers and scientists, feel proud to belong to the segment of food production that keeps the country alive,� he said.
Prof Ayyappan also stressed that though agriculture in India employs 52 per cent of the labour force and is the main source of livelihood for 80 per cent of the rural poor, contributing 14 per cent to GDP, still, small and fragmented land holdings, climate change, nutritional and livelihood security among others continue to be the major issues in the country.
Advocating the use of new technology, adoption of farm practices in urban areas, providing quality seeds to farmers, judicious use of water, he said that the Northeast has immense potential to emerge as a big player in horticulture, poultry farming other than producing protein food and oilseeds, etc.
The annual memorial lecture is organised under the aegis of the Dr Amitabh Chowdhury Memorial Trust to commemorate the birth anniversary of the late Dr Amitabh Chowdhury, a cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon who left for his heavenly abode on September 10, 2003, at the age of 33 years after a fatal road mishap.
The Trust so far has renovated and refurbished the Gauhati Medical College Library with latest books and journals of medical science and has also taken steps to reach out to the marginalised class of society through various philanthropic activities.
Today�s event was chaired by Jatin Hazarika.
Earlier, delivering the welcome address, Justice Amitava Roy said the objective of the Trust was to keep alive the memories of Amitabh Chowdhury and promote the human values he propounded.
Dr Amitabh Chowdhury�s father Dhiresh Narayan Chowdhury and his sister Barnali Chowdhury among others were also present on the occasion.
