-The United Nations Although global food prices have recently stabilized, they are expected to remain volatile over the next few years, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today, as a ministerial meeting on global food prices kicked off in Rome. FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva told the meeting, which coincided with the opening of the Committee on World Food Security, that this year's session was...
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The global implications of India's food security law-Nikhil Inamdar
-The Business Standard Balancing duty to the poor while mitigating 'policy externalities' arising out of the food bill is India's latest challenge The government has fought all odds to get the food security bill - an entitlement programme that covers 67% of India's 1.2 billion large population under a subsidised grain regime, passed in the Parliament. But the battle now shifts to the global stage with India having to convince negotiators, particularly...
More »Marketing, not hoarding
-The Business Standard Onion crisis is a reminder of the need for retail reform Onion prices in towns have begun, finally, to come down. That follows a fresh harvest of onions in Karnataka and Maharashtra. But the price rise could happen again - unless its causes are realistically ascertained, and the right lessons drawn. The crisis was generally believed to have been triggered by low production, high exports and rampant hoarding. However,...
More »Food sector reform: Tackling the runaway food inflation train
-The Economic Times Nothing can be more ironic than to have food inflation at 18% (August 2013 over last August) in a country that takes pride in enacting the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and bestowing "the right to food" to 67% of its population by promising 5 kg cereals per capita per month (pcpm) at highly subsidised rates. Given that cereals consumption is 10.7 kg pcpm, people will have to face...
More »Raid threat pulls down onion prices in Maharashtra -Jayashree Bhosale
-The Economic Times PUNE: Onion prices have crashed by 25-30% from the peak of Rs 60 per kg last week after the Maharashtra government threatened onion traders with raids and new harvests eased pressure on supplies. On September 18 and 19, wholesale prices at many APMCs in Maharashtra had risen to Rs 55 per kg. A meeting held by the state's marketing director at Lasalgaon on September 19 suggesting raids if prices...
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