The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a $9.7 million grant for poor farmers in India as part of a $120 million programme for the uplift of agriculture in endemically poor regions of the world.

"Melinda and I believe that helping the poorest small-holder farmers grow more crops and get them to market is the world's single most powerful lever for reducing hunger and poverty," Gates said in Des Moines, Iowa, announcing the new programme.