India to host 8th global conference on agriculture-statistics; Bill Gates to deliver key-note address

India will
host a four-day global conference on agriculture statistics beginning November
18 in the national capital and billionaire Bill Gates is scheduled to give a
keynote address.

The
agriculture ministry is organising the international conference, held every
three years, in partnership with the United Nation’s FAO, the US Department of
Agriculture (USDA), the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and
other agencies.

Agriculture
Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and two ministers of state for agriculture will
be present at the event, which is expected to see a participation from 108
countries and over 600 delegates.

The theme of
the conference would be ‘Statistics for transformation of agriculture to
achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 After unveiling the logo of the conference,
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director General Trilochan
Mohapatra said Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-chair Bill Gates will
deliver a keynote address.

Stating that
agri-data plays an extremely important role in evidence-based policy making, he
said currently, agri-data in India is scattered and efforts are being made to
collate at one place.

Bill Gates
said, “By 2030, we have to achieve SDGs. Eliminating hunger and
malnutrition are some of the major concerns not only for India but also for
other countries. The conference will deliberate on policy measures and global
cooperation in farm statistics required to be taken for achieving the
SDGs.”

The first
conference on agriculture statistics was held in 1998 in Washington and the
previous one was in Brazil in 2016.

 Besides agri-statisticians from all over the
world and representatives of National Statistics Offices, the conference will
also open its doors to the participation of producers, suppliers and users of
agri-statistics as well as policy makers, researchers and analysts.

The occasion
will also help young statisticians from India to present their work and create
better employment opportunities in the future, Mohapatra added.