The Department of Food & Public Distribution (DFPD) has signed an MoU with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for FY27 in New Delhi to establish a performance framework for the latter. The agreement aims to enhance operational efficiency and organizational accountability of the FCI.
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has chaired the 16th BRICS Agriculture Ministers' Meeting in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Held under India’s 2026 BRICS Chairship, this was the first-ever BRICS agricultural summit to include both Member and Partner Countries.
The BRICS Agriculture Working Group identified 4 priorities: Food Security and Nutrition (focusing on smallholder farmers, women, and youth), Agricultural Trade, Regenerative Farming (promoting climate-resilient practices), and Investment and Innovation.
The summit concluded with the adoption of the ‘Indore Declaration’, which emphasises a farmer-centric global food system and rejects unilateral trade restrictions that threaten food security.
To implement the declaration, the member nations established 5 institutional networks: the BRICS Network of Centres of Excellence on Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture (coordinated by the ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming System Research (IIFSR), Modipuram), Network on Digital Agriculture (coordinated by the IIT Delhi), BRICS Agro-Inputs, Genetic Resources, and Information Network (BRICS AGRIN Framework), Knowledge-to-Action Hub (by strengthening the BRICS Agricultural Research Platform (BARP)), and the Global Forum on Farmers' Rights in Seed Systems.
PM Narendra Modi has been conferred the prestigious FAO Agricola Medal by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The award recognises his contributions to food security, sustainable agriculture, and rural development.
It is one of the highest honours given by the FAO to individuals for their role in advancing global food security, improved nutrition, and agricultural development.