World Food Day today

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: World Food Day is being observed throughout the globe on October 16 (Sunday) with the theme "Food Prices-From Crisis to Stability" this year to shed some light on this trend and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable.

World Food Day was proclaimed in 1979 by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). It marks the date of the founding of FAO in 1945. The aim of the Day is to heighten public awareness of the world food problems and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. In 1980, the General Assembly endorsed observance of the Day in consideration of the fact that "food is a requisite for human survival and well-being and a fundamental human necessity."

The Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) has also asked all its district officers agriculture (extension) to pledge to make all out efforts for productivity enhancement, diversification, intensification and value addition in agriculture.

Director General Agriculture (Extension) Dr Muhammad Anjum Ali in a letter to all the district officers on 'World Food Day' said that it would be commemorated on October 16 with a theme "Food Prices-from Crisis to Stability.' Rapid price swings have made calculations much more difficult to gauge soaring food prices and cost of their production, catapult economic and technical coordination, augment public awareness of the issue of hunger and advocate the journey of technologies to produce more on sustainable basis. He urged the departmental officers that as extension agent at this most important day, pledge all out efforts for productivity enhancement, diversification, intensification and value addition in agriculture through conservation agriculture.

In addition; extra ordinary and sincere efforts shall be made through resource and time management to increase per acre productivity and profitability of crops linked with food and economic security of Pakistan for inter alia stabilisation of prices to ensure that food is available, accessible and affordable for the poor people as well, he added.