President Asif Ali Zardari has said that government has accorded high priority to agriculture to ensure food security and creating new job and income opportunities for rural population. In his message on the occasion of World Food Day (Oct.16), he said, the government took various steps including increase in wheat procurement price last year and new incentives to grow more food. He said the theme of this years World Food Day Food prices - From Crisis to stability is most relevant to countries with agro - based economies like Pakistan facing multiple challenges of stagnancy in agricultural productivity, high population growth, water shortage, land degradation, climate change and in our case the devastation of agriculture by recurring floods. We need to adopt innovative approaches to achieve food security. The two consecutive floods have played havoc with our agriculture produce, cash crops and live stock, the President said. The President said with the assistance of the international community, the government managed to provide critical support to the millions of flood affected people by providing needed rations to save them from imminent threat of hunger. Much has been done for their rehabilitation, but still a lot more needs to be done in the fight against hunger to ensure food security for our people in Sindh, the President added. President Asif Ali Zardari said spiralling food prices world wide is a serious challenge to food security, adding, prices of commodities affect all countries of the world and there is a need for the international community to devise ways for ensuring that food prices remain within the reach of the common people. The President on the eve of the World Day- 2011, reiterated his commitment to ensure food prices stability and food security for the people and to initiate interventions to overcome the existing challenges in the way of achieving this goal.