Dharwad: Scarcity of water and declining soil fertility will pose a big danger to the food security of India in the days to come, said secretary to the Union ministry of agriculture S K Pattanayak.Delivering the address at the 31st annual convocation of the University of Agricultural Sciences here on Saturday, he said that by adopting new technologies in agriculture, the country can achieve green, blue and yellow revolutions and food security.India has a challenge of producing 300 million tonnes of food grains by 2020, Pattanayak said.Agriculture has been the main occupation of the people in India and the contribution of agriculture sector to country’s GDP is 14 per cent, the senior official added.Stating that farmers continue to face problems despite getting good yield due to issues like crash in price of produce, uncertain rains, climate change and shortage of farm workers, Pattanayak advised farmers to utilize water rationally and conserve the fertility of the soil to make farming a profitable venture.Referring to extreme variation in climate, he said it is a major challenge and the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana comes as a boon to farmers affected by the vagaries of climate.He called upon agriculture graduates to ensure that the benefits of research conducted UAS reaches farmers.Agriculture minister N H Shivashankar Reddy conferred degrees on 948 fresh graduates. Vice-chancellor V I Benagi and others were present on the dais.Vaidehi Pai who secured two gold medals in B Sc (agri) emerged as the golden girl.Professor Shivalingappa S Halli of Vijayapura who is now working in community health science department of Manitoba University of Canada was conferred a Honoris Causa in absentia.Doctor of Philosophy degrees were conferred on 58 candidates while 43 gold medals and five cash prizes were presented to meritorious students.

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