‘When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need ’Dr Rattan Lal the 2020 World Food Prize Laureate
Hyderabad, October 29, 2021: BIO AGRI-2021, the biggest ever Bio-Agri Conference in India began in Hyderabad at Westin Hotel in Madhapur Thursday evening. Over 150 delegates from all over India and abroad are participating in the two-day meet organized by Bio Agri Input Producers Association (BIPA), the first Bio input association in India established in the year 2003.
The theme of the conference is “Bio-Innovations for Regenerative Agriculture”
The 2020 World Food Prize Laureate Dr Rattan Lal delivered keynote at the inaugural of Bio-Agri-2021. He addressed the conference delegates virtually from the United States of America.
He is an Indian now living in the USA. The World Food Prize is considered the Nobel Prize in Agriculture. Over his career spanning more than five decades and four continents, Dr Lal has promoted innovative soil-saving techniques benefiting the livelihoods of more than 500 million smallholder farmers, improving the food and nutritional security of more than two billion people and saving hundreds of millions of hectares of natural tropical ecosystems.
Dr Rattan Lal spoke on Indian Cropping System. Speaking on the occasion virtually he said ‘When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need’.
Consumption of healthy and sustainable diet improves health, reduces GHG missions, improves water resources and strengthens biodiversity.
The manthra he gave in the e d is Healthy soil is equal to healthy diet is equal to healthy people equal to healthy ecosystems equal to healthy planetary process.
Dr Praveen Rao, Vice-Chancellor of PJTSAU (The Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University) a state agriculture university spoke about ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are the benefits to people from nature. These benefits include food, water purification, carbon sequestration, soil stabilization, recreation, cultural values, among others he added.
Dr Praveen Rao also announced that an MoU would be signed in near future between the PJTSAU and the BIPA for mutual cooperation and collocation.
Welcoming the gathering, Dr KRK Reddy, President of BIPA (Bio Agri Input Producers Association) which is organising the BioAgri said BIPA was formed in 2003 out of crisis. It is working towards the use of biological technology that includes but not restricted to bio-pesticides, bio-stimulants, bio-fertilisers, semio-chemicals, environmental management for sustainable Agri in India and across the globe.
Explaining the theme Bio Innovations for Regenerative Agriculture he said India is the biggest exporter of Rice. For every 1kg rice we produce we consume 5000 litres of water which means that many litres of water is also exported. Can’t we look at innovations to address this. He gave many more such examples.
The other speakers who spoke include Dr Pam Marrone, Chairperson, Marrone Bio Innovations—USA; Mr Henri Oosthoek, MD of Koppert Biological Systems, The Netherlands; Dr Agenor Mafra-Neto, Chemical Ecology Researcher and others. All of them spoke via recorded messages.
The two day conference will deliver upon Transforming India’s Food Production Systems; Bio Innovations for Regenerative Agriculture Partnering with the nature: the IPM Way; Innovations in Pheromone Technology & Growing Market Presence Globally; The biology & chemistry of bio-innovations; Mocrobial Biostimulants: The Global Perspective; The Role of PGPRs in Biological Agriculture and Boisrtimulnats: American perspective & regulatory status etc and others.
According to Raj Agarwal, Executive Director of BIPA, the two day Bio Agri 2021 conference is focusing on the innovations, services, and delivery systems to use and implement to bring back life to the soils, biodiversity restoration which will lead to regenerative and sustainable agriculture.
The conference is organized in the backdrop of concerns like continuous degradation of soil, growing demand for sustainable agriculture etc and others said Dr KRK Reddy, President of BIPA.
Dr John Peter another BIPA office-bearer said 15% of greenhouse gases are produced because of agricultural practices and unconventional uses of chemicals.
The BioAgri 2021 Conference is the brainchild of BIPA which is created to promote biological agriculture in India. While the whole world is talking about Bio-Agri, Natural Agriculture and Sustainability now, the founders of BIPA had the vision 19 years back the importance of the subject informed Mr Raj Agarwal.