India to host 6th BRICS agriculture meeting on September 22

India will host the sixth Brics meeting on Agriculture and Agrarian Development from September 22, and will deliberate on priority areas of cooperation between the five countries of the bloc. The two-day conference will start with an official-level meeting to be followed by ministerial meeting the next day. The discussion will centre around five priority areas of cooperation in the Brics (Brazil, Russia,

India, China, South Africa) Action Plan for 2012-2016, an official statement said. The areas of cooperation include creating basic agricultural information exchange system, strategy for ensuring access to food for the most vulnerable population, reducing negative impact of climate change on food security and adaptation of agriculture to climatic changes, enhancing agricultural technology cooperation and innovation, trade and investment promotion, it said.

Detailed discussions will also be held on the Brics Agricultural Research Centre, which is likely to be set up in India.

The proposed Centre is expected to work on Agricultural Science, Policy Research and Development Extension, Technology Transfer, Training and Capacity Building and Scientific Information Sharing.

The agenda of the Brics meetings has considerably widened over the years encompassing global issues such as climate change, food and energy security, Strategic Development Goals (SDGs) and International Economic and Financial Situation among others.

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy of Brics being the major producers, consumers and exporters of agricultural, horticultural and meat products.

Brics countries enjoy strength in the form of knowledge, expertise and research facilities and capabilities in agriculture. These strengths need to be converged and galvanized for ensuring global food security.

India assumed the Presidency of Brics countries this year and has been hosting a number of mega level meetings in different sectors at the ministerial and official level. The Brics summit is scheduled to be held in Goa on October 15-16.