-Down to Earth The past three decades have seen stagnation in acreage, production and productivity of pulses across the country due to a bevy of reasons that include availability of more profitable crops The primary reason behind India’s domestic shortage in pulses is stagnation of production over the past five decades. Overcoming the Pulses Crisis, a 2010 report by the Confederation of Indian Industry, states the production of pulses grew only by...
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Arsenic now in wheat, potato — and more than that in drinking water — in rural Bihar -Mohd Imran Khan
-Down to Earth Groundwater contaminated with arsenic is extensively used for irrigation and finds its way into the food chain Arsenic contamination in groundwater has been a growing concern in several parts of the country. Now, the chemical has found its way into the food chain — mainly rice, wheat and potato — a recent study has found. Ashok Kr Ghosh, one of the leading scientists of the team that led the research...
More »Fear of food grain crisis due to open procurement; increasing MSP coverage the solution, say experts -Vivek Mishra
-Down to Earth Buffer stock of wheat and rice in Food Corporation of India godowns double the normal The Union government has procured and stored record amount of food grain since 2018. Yet, farmers have not been getting a fair price for their crop. And a huge part of the country’s population is unable to access the food grains. Meanwhile, the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has recommended the Union government...
More »Hunger Amidst Plenty—Tragedy Continues 75 Years After Independence -Subodh Varma
-Newsclick.in As India celebrates its 75th Independence Day, there is a record harvest of foodgrains; but why are so many people hungry? India has reaped an all-time high food grain harvest for 2020-21 of nearly 309 million tonnes (MT), or nearly 31 crore tonnes, according to latest estimates by the agriculture ministry. This was propelled by record harvests of wheat (109.5 MT), rice (122.3 MT), nutri/coarse cereals (51.2 MT) and pulses (25.7...
More »Stop compulsory food fortification: Health activists write to FSSAI
-GaonConnection.com The Indian government is considering ‘mandatory’ food fortification in the country. Several health experts have written to FSSAI calling the decision ‘a blanket approach’ to meet the complexity of malnutrition in the country. Details here. At least 170 people and organisations, including medical experts and nutritionists, have today, on August 2, written a letter to Ashok Kumar Mishra, the assistant director of Food Fortification Resource Centre, department that regulates food under...
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