Hyderabad: As India’s food basket grows fuller, questions are being raised about whether it is also becoming healthier. Addressing this challenge, international agricultural expert and director of Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition, Prabhu L Pingali, on Monday called for a shift in India’s farm policies towards crop diversification, backed by stronger investment in transport, marketing and storage systems to improve nutritional security.Speaking as chief guest at the 56th, 57th and 58th graduation ceremonies of Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, Pingali said India needs multiple, targeted agricultural policies to tackle malnutrition and changing consumer diets, rather than relying on a single, uniform approach. He said that while the Green Revolution helped India move from food shortages in the 1960s to becoming a food-exporting nation, the focus on a few staple crops has left the country lagging in the production of pulses and coarse grains. This imbalance, he said, continues to contribute to nutritional deficiencies. Changing food patternsPingali also drew attention to rapidly changing food consumption patterns. Globalisation and exposure to Western diets have altered eating habits, while digitalisation following the Covid-19 pandemic has expanded access to food through app-based delivery platforms. These shifts, he said, make it imperative for agricultural policy to align farm production with evolving consumer demand and nutrition needs. University vice-chancellor Professor Aldas Janaiah, in his convocation report, highlighted a range of academic and outreach initiatives undertaken by the varsity. These include reserving 15% of undergraduate seats for children of agricultural labourers and reducing fees under special quotas. At the ceremony, degrees were awarded to 2,135 undergraduate students, 480 postgraduates and 129 PhD scholars. Gold medals were presented to 64 undergraduates, 26 postgraduates and six doctoral candidates for academic excellence.
