The National Food Security Bill, 2011, designed to make access to food a legal right, is the last chance to convert Gandhiji's vision of a hunger-free India into reality. What Mahatma Gandhi said of the role of food in a human being's life in a 1946 speech at Noakhali, now in Bangladesh, remains the most powerful expression of the importance of making access to food a basic human right. Gandhiji also...

-The Hindu Business Line   Input subsidy expenses not contributing to boost productivity The World Bank has said that South Asia's foodgrain stock management, especially in India, needs to improve to tackle inflation. In its focus on food inflation in South Asia, the bank said that high stocks have led to high wastage due to inadequate storage capacity and technology. According to World Bank's estimates, the Food Corporation of India lost 10-16 million tonnes...

-The Times of India   Speaking at a seminar organized for honouring farmers here on Saturday, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar announced that awards should be instituted by all states for honouring innovative work done by farmers in the country. "Rajasthan has already started honouring farmers for their innovative work. The other states should also follow it. I will write to chief ministers of other states to start honouring farmers and give away...

Production to drop drastically this kharif season Pulses and oilseeds are likely to be dearer, particularly to the middle class and poor as their production is likely to go down drastically in the ongoing kharif season in the State. Scanty rainfall in the beginning of southwest monsoon season is the reason for lower coverage of various crops. As per the first advance production estimates prepared by the Bureau of Economics and Statistics...

Studies by the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Academic Forum on food security issues in the three countries suggest that providing food access works best when backed by cash transfers. A paper on food security brought out by the UNDP’s Brasilia-based International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), under the Forum, shows that despite the great strides in food production made by India people in this country are just not eating enough. Citing indices...