Laureate Gebisa Ejeta Inspires Young Students of India

The World Food Prize Laureate Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, professor of plant breeding and genetics at Purdue University, USA was the key speaker for this year's Barwale Foundation Annual Day lecture held at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi on September 6, 2010. Ejeta delivered a  lecture on "Global Food Security in the Face of Emerging Challenges" that was attended by nearly 250 people including agricultural scientists, government officials, researchers and students.

"A revitalized agricultural research agenda with a holistic approach to sustained growth in agriculture is the key to averting food crises, dealing with natural resource conservation, energy and water shortages and adapting to climate change", Ejeta said. He strongly recommended to embrace science and technology and adopt modern agricultural practices to narrow  the growing yield gap without aggravating the degradation of natural resources.  "There has been a new realization of the need for sustained support of agricultural science and technology generation to transform agriculture in developing countries and sustain the advances made in rich nations. I believe that even in the face of issues like climate change, we have the capacity to rise to these emerging challenges and assure sustained global food security", he added.

Ejeta was awarded the World Food Prize in 2009 for his contributions in the production of sorghum hybrids resistant to drought and Striga weed which have dramatically increased food production and availability for hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. B.R. Barwale, 1998 winner of the World Food Prize, underscored the role of technology in transforming Indian agriculture.  

A copy of Ejeta's speech "Global Food Security in the Face of Emerging Challenges" is available at: http://www.barwalefoundation.org/ A press release by ICAR "Sustained Investment in Agricultural Research Needed to Double the Production" is available at http://www.icar.org.in/en/node/1944 For more information about biotech developments in India contact b.choudhary@cgiar.org or k.gaur@cgiar.org