PM Modi to release commemorative coin on 75th anniversary of FAO

PM Modi will release a commemorative coin of Rs 75 denomination on Friday on the 75th anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organisation to mark India's long-standing relations with the UN agency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release a commemorative coin of Rs 75 denomination on Friday on the 75th anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to mark India's long-standing relations with the UN agency.

Modi will also dedicate to the nation 17 recently developed biofortified varieties of eight crops, his office said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The event marks the highest priority accorded by the government to agriculture and nutrition, and is a testament of the resolve to completely eliminate hunger, undernourishment and malnutrition," it said.

Anganwadi centres, krishi vigyan kendras, organic and horticulture missions across the country will be part of the event.

The journey of FAO in making the vulnerable classes and masses stronger, economically and nutritionally, has been unparalleled, the statement noted, adding that India has had a historic association with the organisation.

Indian civil service officer Binay Ranjan Sen was the Director General of FAO during 1956-1967. The World Food Programme, which has won the Nobel Peace Prize 2020, was established during his time, it said.

India's proposals for declaring 2016 as the International Year of Pulses and 2023 as the International Year of Millets have also been endorsed by the FAO, it said.

The statement said that 17 biofortified varieties, which were recently developed, of eight crops to be dedicated to the nation by the prime minister will lead up to three-fold increase in nutritional value.

India has rolled out an ambitious 'POSHAN abhiyaan' targeting over 100 million people with the aim to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anaemia, and low birth weight.