On Union Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar's own admission, India wastes food grains worth Rs. 58,000 crore every year because of weaknesses in storage techniques and deficiencies in supply chain. This colossal loss of grains rendered unfit for human consumption is all the more unfortunate in a country where a sizeable section of the population goes to bed hungry.

Is it not a paradox that when the government is all set to enact a Food Security law – maybe in six months to a year, to quote Mr Pawar – to ensure minimum food grains to each individual as his or her right, cereal losses of such magnitude go on unchecked?

As is well known, right use of technology holds the key to sort out many problems in agriculture and allied sectors. Modern technology needs to be adopted to improve the functioning of the entire chain of activities encompassing production, processing, storage, distribution and value addition -- in fact the nitty-gritty of every operation -- to take the food and food products from the farmer's fields to the consumer's table.

The present agriculture scenario in India would reveal that although the Green Revolution has brought about a transformation on the farm front, the situation calls for many mid-course corrections to enhance the output through such measures as area expansion, productivity increase and restoration of soil health to augment employment opportunities and income. Transfer of technology is a ‘must' to make the benefits of the Revolution more meaningful to the stakeholders, who include the farmers, industry and trade and, of course, the government.

Surely, the Green Revolution technology is not for food grains alone; there are a host of other food products and produce like oilseeds, spices, fruits, vegetables, coffee and cocoa, and many more that demand attention.

Improved technology is the need of the hour in view of the fact that despite India becoming a prominent player in commodities like wheat, rice and many other cereal crops, domestic demand for all food products is increasing because of changing life styles and population pressure. This demand-supply mismatch is aggravated by crop diversification by farmers who find cultivation of horticulture crops and other activities more lucrative than growing traditional cereal crops. As a result, import of many food products is continuously on the rise.

It is against this background that Media Today, which has an impeccable track record in organising international trade fairs and conferences, has thought it fit to hold a separate three-day GrainTech India 2010 exhibition concurrently with India Foodex and AgriTech in Bangalore , beginning on August 20. Undoubtedly, Grain Tech India assumes greater significance in the context of the National Food Security Mission, launched by the government in 2007-08 to give a big boost to the production -- and productivity – of rice, wheat and pulses through technological intervention in the Eleventh Five-year Plan.

All the three expos – Agri Tech, Grain Tech and India Foodex -- are closely interlinked, forming a composite whole, encompassing the entire food business—from the grower to the consumer. Agri Tech will focus on transfer of technology to the farmer and farm mechanisation, Grain Tech will be devoted to post harvest management, processing and value addition to grain, while India Foodex will have under its ambit production of good quality food, ready-to-eat products and promotion of marketing for retail outlets in India and abroad.

To impart more value to the event, a two-day international conference is being planned. Appropriately, the theme of the conference is “Food Security through Technology”.

The event has the support of the Union Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MFPI) and APEDA, all of which have a vital stake in increasing food production to meet rising domestic demand and to promote food exports. While the Agriculture Ministry has a plethora of schemes to encourage adoption of latest technology to raise productivity levels in the farms, MFPI has its focus on checking colossal losses of harvested food grains and horticulture produce by promoting value addition through use of latest technology. APEDA's role, on the other hand, becomes important as it has set its eyes on taking food exports from the country to a new high. The aim is to make India a “Food Basket of the world.” APEDA has set an export target of 15 billion dollars worth food products to be achieved in the coming years.

Closely associated with organization of the conference are other important bodies that are involved in producing and marketing of quality food products, both for the domestic and global markets. The organizations are: Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology, Roller Flour Millers' Federation of India, Solvent Extractors Association of India, Soyabean Processors Association of India, Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council, All India Food Processors Association, Indian Biscuits Manufacturers' Association and Bhartiya Krishak Samaj.

The topics to be discussed at the conference are divided into six broad sessions: International and domestic production scenario; Indian Food Market and Emerging Food consumptions; Enhancing quality production and marketing through improved technology; Innovations in product development; Issues of regulations and compliances. Top officials and experts from the government of India , trade bodies and corporate sector are scheduled to participate in the discussions.