Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
$message = 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
$stackFrame = (int) 1
$trace = [
	(int) 0 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ServerRequest.php',
		'line' => (int) 2421,
		'function' => 'deprecationWarning',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead.'
		]
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
		'line' => (int) 73,
		'function' => 'offsetGet',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'catslug'
		]
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Controller/Controller.php',
		'line' => (int) 610,
		'function' => 'printArticle',
		'class' => 'App\Controller\ArtileDetailController',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 120,
		'function' => 'invokeAction',
		'class' => 'Cake\Controller\Controller',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 94,
		'function' => '_invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/BaseApplication.php',
		'line' => (int) 235,
		'function' => 'dispatch',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\BaseApplication',
		'object' => object(App\Application) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 162,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 88,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 96,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 51,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Server.php',
		'line' => (int) 98,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\MiddlewareQueue) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/webroot/index.php',
		'line' => (int) 39,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Server',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Server) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	]
]
$frame = [
	'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
	'line' => (int) 73,
	'function' => 'offsetGet',
	'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
	'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {
		trustProxy => false
		[protected] params => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] data => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] query => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] cookies => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _environment => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] url => 'latest-news-updates/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664/print'
		[protected] base => ''
		[protected] webroot => '/'
		[protected] here => '/latest-news-updates/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664/print'
		[protected] trustedProxies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _input => null
		[protected] _detectors => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _detectorCache => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] stream => object(Zend\Diactoros\PhpInputStream) {}
		[protected] uri => object(Zend\Diactoros\Uri) {}
		[protected] session => object(Cake\Http\Session) {}
		[protected] attributes => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] emulatedAttributes => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] uploadedFiles => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] protocol => null
		[protected] requestTarget => null
		[private] deprecatedProperties => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	},
	'type' => '->',
	'args' => [
		(int) 0 => 'catslug'
	]
]
deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
$message = 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
$stackFrame = (int) 1
$trace = [
	(int) 0 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ServerRequest.php',
		'line' => (int) 2421,
		'function' => 'deprecationWarning',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead.'
		]
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
		'line' => (int) 74,
		'function' => 'offsetGet',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'artileslug'
		]
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Controller/Controller.php',
		'line' => (int) 610,
		'function' => 'printArticle',
		'class' => 'App\Controller\ArtileDetailController',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 120,
		'function' => 'invokeAction',
		'class' => 'Cake\Controller\Controller',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 94,
		'function' => '_invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/BaseApplication.php',
		'line' => (int) 235,
		'function' => 'dispatch',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\BaseApplication',
		'object' => object(App\Application) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 162,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 88,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 96,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 51,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Server.php',
		'line' => (int) 98,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\MiddlewareQueue) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/webroot/index.php',
		'line' => (int) 39,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Server',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Server) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	]
]
$frame = [
	'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
	'line' => (int) 74,
	'function' => 'offsetGet',
	'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
	'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {
		trustProxy => false
		[protected] params => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] data => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] query => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] cookies => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _environment => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] url => 'latest-news-updates/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664/print'
		[protected] base => ''
		[protected] webroot => '/'
		[protected] here => '/latest-news-updates/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664/print'
		[protected] trustedProxies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _input => null
		[protected] _detectors => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _detectorCache => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] stream => object(Zend\Diactoros\PhpInputStream) {}
		[protected] uri => object(Zend\Diactoros\Uri) {}
		[protected] session => object(Cake\Http\Session) {}
		[protected] attributes => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] emulatedAttributes => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] uploadedFiles => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] protocol => null
		[protected] requestTarget => null
		[private] deprecatedProperties => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	},
	'type' => '->',
	'args' => [
		(int) 0 => 'artileslug'
	]
]
deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

            } else {
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67f0ccf730789-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f0ccf730789-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67f0ccf730789-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 35557,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;Hindustan Times, 15 January, 2018, http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4683664,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 35557,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;Public Distribution System,Public Distribution System (PDS),ragi,Finger millet,Food Security,Right to Food,PDS,Consumer Tastes and Preferences,rice&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;
-Hindustan Times

Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise

After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 35557,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;Hindustan Times, 15 January, 2018, http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4683664,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 1 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 2 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 3 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 4 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 5 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 6 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 7 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 8 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 35557
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Public Distribution System,Public Distribution System (PDS),ragi,Finger millet,Food Security,Right to Food,PDS,Consumer Tastes and Preferences,rice&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;
-Hindustan Times

Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise

After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="
-Hindustan Times

Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise

After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the..."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <div align="justify">-Hindustan Times<br /><br /><em>Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise<br /></em><br />After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.<br /><br />In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.<br /><br />Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.<br /><br />On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.<br /><br />Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).<br /><br />Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. <br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html" title="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$maxBufferLength = (int) 8192
$file = '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php'
$line = (int) 853
$message = 'Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853'
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Code Context
            $response->getStatusCode(),

            ($reasonPhrase ? ' ' . $reasonPhrase : '')

        ));
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67f0ccf730789-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f0ccf730789-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67f0ccf730789-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 35557,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;Hindustan Times, 15 January, 2018, http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4683664,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 35557,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;Public Distribution System,Public Distribution System (PDS),ragi,Finger millet,Food Security,Right to Food,PDS,Consumer Tastes and Preferences,rice&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;
-Hindustan Times

Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise

After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 35557,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;Hindustan Times, 15 January, 2018, http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4683664,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 1 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 2 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 3 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 4 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 5 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 6 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 7 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 8 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 35557
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Public Distribution System,Public Distribution System (PDS),ragi,Finger millet,Food Security,Right to Food,PDS,Consumer Tastes and Preferences,rice&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;
-Hindustan Times

Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise

After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="
-Hindustan Times

Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise

After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the..."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <div align="justify">-Hindustan Times<br /><br /><em>Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise<br /></em><br />After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.<br /><br />In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.<br /><br />Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.<br /><br />On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.<br /><br />Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).<br /><br />Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. <br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html" title="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$reasonPhrase = 'OK'
header - [internal], line ??
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emitStatusLine() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 54
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Code Context
                    $value

                ), $first);

                $first = false;
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67f0ccf730789-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0ccf730789-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f0ccf730789-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67f0ccf730789-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 35557,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;Hindustan Times, 15 January, 2018, http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4683664,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 35557,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;Public Distribution System,Public Distribution System (PDS),ragi,Finger millet,Food Security,Right to Food,PDS,Consumer Tastes and Preferences,rice&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;
-Hindustan Times

Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise

After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 35557,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;Hindustan Times, 15 January, 2018, http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4683664,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 1 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 2 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 3 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 4 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 5 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 6 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 7 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 8 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 35557
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Public Distribution System,Public Distribution System (PDS),ragi,Finger millet,Food Security,Right to Food,PDS,Consumer Tastes and Preferences,rice&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;
-Hindustan Times

Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise

After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&amp;rsquo;t materialise&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&amp;rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="
-Hindustan Times

Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise

After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the..."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <div align="justify">-Hindustan Times<br /><br /><em>Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise<br /></em><br />After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.<br /><br />In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.<br /><br />Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.<br /><br />On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.<br /><br />Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).<br /><br />Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. <br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html" title="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$cookies = []
$values = [
	(int) 0 => 'text/html; charset=UTF-8'
]
$name = 'Content-Type'
$first = true
$value = 'text/html; charset=UTF-8'
header - [internal], line ??
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emitHeaders() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 55
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

<head>

    <link rel="canonical" href="<?php echo Configure::read('SITE_URL'); ?><?php echo $urlPrefix;?><?php echo $article_current->category->slug; ?>/<?php echo $article_current->seo_url; ?>.html"/>

    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>

$viewFile = '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp'
$dataForView = [
	'article_current' => object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		'id' => (int) 35557,
		'title' => 'Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy',
		'subheading' => '',
		'description' => '<div align="justify">
-Hindustan Times<br />
<br />
<em>Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise<br />
</em><br />
After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.<br />
<br />
In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.<br />
<br />
Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.<br />
<br />
On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.<br />
<br />
Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).<br />
<br />
Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. <br />
<br />
Please <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html">click here</a> to read more. <br />
</div>',
		'credit_writer' => 'Hindustan Times, 15 January, 2018, http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html',
		'article_img' => '',
		'article_img_thumb' => '',
		'status' => (int) 1,
		'show_on_home' => (int) 1,
		'lang' => 'EN',
		'category_id' => (int) 16,
		'tag_keyword' => '',
		'seo_url' => 'introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664',
		'meta_title' => null,
		'meta_keywords' => null,
		'meta_description' => null,
		'noindex' => (int) 0,
		'publish_date' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		'most_visit_section_id' => null,
		'article_big_img' => null,
		'liveid' => (int) 4683664,
		'created' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'modified' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'edate' => '',
		'tags' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		'category' => object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		'[new]' => false,
		'[accessible]' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		'[dirty]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[original]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[virtual]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[hasErrors]' => false,
		'[errors]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[invalid]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[repository]' => 'Articles'
	
	},
	'articleid' => (int) 35557,
	'metaTitle' => 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy',
	'metaKeywords' => 'Public Distribution System,Public Distribution System (PDS),ragi,Finger millet,Food Security,Right to Food,PDS,Consumer Tastes and Preferences,rice',
	'metaDesc' => '
-Hindustan Times

Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise

After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the...',
	'disp' => '<div align="justify">-Hindustan Times<br /><br /><em>Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise<br /></em><br />After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.<br /><br />In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.<br /><br />Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.<br /><br />On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.<br /><br />Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).<br /><br />Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. <br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html" title="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>',
	'lang' => 'English',
	'SITE_URL' => 'https://im4change.in/',
	'site_title' => 'im4change',
	'adminprix' => 'admin'
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	'id' => (int) 35557,
	'title' => 'Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy',
	'subheading' => '',
	'description' => '<div align="justify">
-Hindustan Times<br />
<br />
<em>Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise<br />
</em><br />
After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.<br />
<br />
In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.<br />
<br />
Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.<br />
<br />
On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.<br />
<br />
Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).<br />
<br />
Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. <br />
<br />
Please <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html">click here</a> to read more. <br />
</div>',
	'credit_writer' => 'Hindustan Times, 15 January, 2018, http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html',
	'article_img' => '',
	'article_img_thumb' => '',
	'status' => (int) 1,
	'show_on_home' => (int) 1,
	'lang' => 'EN',
	'category_id' => (int) 16,
	'tag_keyword' => '',
	'seo_url' => 'introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges-mamata-pradhan-and-devesh-roy-4683664',
	'meta_title' => null,
	'meta_keywords' => null,
	'meta_description' => null,
	'noindex' => (int) 0,
	'publish_date' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	'most_visit_section_id' => null,
	'article_big_img' => null,
	'liveid' => (int) 4683664,
	'created' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	'modified' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	'edate' => '',
	'tags' => [
		(int) 0 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 1 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 2 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 3 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 4 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 5 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 6 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 7 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 8 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	'category' => object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	'[new]' => false,
	'[accessible]' => [
		'*' => true,
		'id' => false
	],
	'[dirty]' => [],
	'[original]' => [],
	'[virtual]' => [],
	'[hasErrors]' => false,
	'[errors]' => [],
	'[invalid]' => [],
	'[repository]' => 'Articles'

}
$articleid = (int) 35557
$metaTitle = 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy'
$metaKeywords = 'Public Distribution System,Public Distribution System (PDS),ragi,Finger millet,Food Security,Right to Food,PDS,Consumer Tastes and Preferences,rice'
$metaDesc = '
-Hindustan Times

Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise

After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the...'
$disp = '<div align="justify">-Hindustan Times<br /><br /><em>Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won&rsquo;t materialise<br /></em><br />After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer.<br /><br />In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits.<br /><br />Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way.<br /><br />On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka.<br /><br />Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010).<br /><br />Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.&rdquo; This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. <br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html" title="http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/introducing-ragi-in-the-pds-is-fraught-with-challenges/story-UvIqFTEJ6CLuuOHRILr0xJ.html">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>'
$lang = 'English'
$SITE_URL = 'https://im4change.in/'
$site_title = 'im4change'
$adminprix = 'admin'

include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51

Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with challenges -Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy

-Hindustan Times Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won’t materialise After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are to improve nutrition and increase the climate-resilience of agriculture since ragi is a drought-resistant crop and to improve returns for the farmer. In theory, if ragi were to displace water guzzlers such as sugarcane and paddy, it should help fight climate change. Making ragi available at a subsidy should increase consumption. Procurement at high MSP should ideally reduce market uncertainty for farmers. To sum it all, ragi in the PDS should mean better nutrition, greater climate-resilience and higher farm incomes. Everybody is a winner, it appears. However, there are no free lunches and no free ragi either. Introducing ragi in the PDS is fraught with several challenges pertaining to implementation notwithstanding the promise of serial benefits. Estimates from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare show that for Karnataka, the costs of production per quintal of paddy (an example of a competing crop) are much lower and the yields much higher than ragi. To make ragi compete with other crops would require significant increases in the MSP for farmers, the costs of which might turn out to be prohibitive. The evidence, based on producer responses is that farmers have not switched from crops such as sugarcane and paddy in any significant way. On the side of consumption, since millet is a naturally nutrient-dense food, making it available through the PDS should enable the poor to have higher consumption leading to improved nutrition. Though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provided for disbursing millets through the PDS as well, the only state that has introduced it in the system is Karnataka. Globally, one of the most commonly applied policies to improve nutrition among the poor is a food subsidy. Yet the outcomes show that improved nutrition from food subsidy is not guaranteed and evidence is mixed (Jensen and Miller 2011). There is substantive debate about the extent to which nutrition among the poor improves with lower food prices (Ecker and Qaim 2011; Behrman et al 1988; Guo et al. 1999; Shimokawa 2010). Because of the high incidence of undernourishment, price subsidy programmes enjoy political and public support despite widespread evidence of corruption and poor targeting (Kaushal and Muchomba 2015). Yet, expanding the portfolio of PDS with nutritive products such as ragi could be desirable if it were to bring in nutrition benefits. The proponents of PDS product portfolio expansion advocate the move precisely on these grounds. Biraj Pattnaik, principal advisor to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, argues: “It’s time for the PDS to diversify in a basket of foods. We are giving cereals but we should also look at distributing millets, pulses, oils, and possibly even fruits, eggs and milk to provide wholesome nutrition.” This reasoning overlooks the mechanics of consumer choices. Please click here to read more.