NEW DELHI, 18 July 2024: The organizing committee of the Sustainable Agriculture Summit and Awards 2024 has officially opened nominations for their prestigious Sustainable Agriculture Awards.
This initiative seeks to honor organizations and individuals who have made significant contributions to agricultural sustainability.
The awards feature 20 diverse categories, recognizing excellence in areas such as water and soil management, environment-friendly practices, biological solutions, resource use efficiency, technological advancements, innovations, agri finance, and impactful startups. These categories are designed to celebrate the best practices and innovations within the agricultural sector.
The “Sustainable Agriculture Summit & Awards, 2024: Nurturing a Greener Tomorrow for Viksit Bharat 2047” will be held in New Delhi on August 7, 2024. The summit aims to bring together key stakeholders from the agricultural ecosystem. Participants will include farmers, industry leaders, policymakers, scientists, academic institutions, and representatives from development organizations.
The event has garnered support from both public and private sectors. Public sector companies like National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL), National Seeds Corporation Limited (NSC), and the Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) have pledged their support. Private sector supporters include IPL Biologicals, Savannah Seeds, Rasi Seeds, and Sira Seeds. Non-governmental organizations like Transform Rural India (TRI), Syngenta Foundation India (SFI), and Agri Entrepreneurs Growth Foundation (AEGF) are also backing the event.
Dr. Navneet Anand, Chairman of the organizing committee and Managing Director of GreyMatters Communications, emphasized the summit’s alignment with the Government of India’s vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’. "This summit will be pivotal in safeguarding farmers’ interests, conserving vital agricultural resources, and exploring modern farming methods adaptable to climate change, thereby significantly contributing to a prosperous future for India," said Dr. Anand.
He further highlighted the role of agriculture in India’s pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, noting that the sector is the third-largest source of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. The summit will serve as a platform for discussing strategies to reduce agricultural emissions and revolutionize food production, distribution, and consumption.
The awards will be judged by a high-profile jury including leaders from various agricultural fields, such as Dr. U Saravanan, Chairman & Managing Director of National Fertilizer Limited (NFL), and Dr. Jay G Jaya Varshney, Former Director of the Directorate of Weed Research, ICAR.
With India’s population projected to reach 1.7 billion by 2050, necessitating 400 million tonnes of food grains, the summit will also address the importance of increasing access to agricultural inputs. Discussions will focus on sustainable production and consumption practices, the role of the private sector, and ensuring a consistent supply chain of agricultural inputs like fertilizers and crop protection chemicals.