-IndiaSpend.com To fight hunger and distress due to the pandemic, India must universalise foodgrain distribution, expand the food basket in its rations scheme and provide cash transfers, activist Anjali Bhardwaj tells us in this interview Bengaluru: The pandemic-induced lockdowns have had a profound impact on livelihoods, affecting poor Indians' food intake, studies show. In October 2020, more than half the respondents of a Hunger Survey said their rice/wheat consumption had declined during...
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Stop exporting our foodgrains; first ensure food security of the informal & migrant workers, urges Right to Food Campaign
-Press release by Right to Food Campaign Secretariat dated 23rd May 2021 Against the backdrop of rise in Covid-19 daily new deaths across the country and local level lockdowns being imposed by various State Governments, India is once again witnessing severe economic distress amongst its working class. The livelihood and food security crisis that is being faced by the poor, daily wage workers and the informal sector workers of the country...
More »First rice, now wheat: India rides on global grain trade bandwagon -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Tuesday upped its forecast of Indian Wheat exports for 2020-21 (July-June) to 1.8 million tonnes (mt), as against its earlier estimate of one mt. That would be the highest ever in the last six years After rice, India is set to turn a major exporter of wheat as well – thanks to surging international prices from Chinese stockpiling and ultra-low interest rate...
More »India’s food supply runs on water misuse -Shijith Kunhitty
-Livemint.com Three-fourths of India’s population depend on cereals from states that over-exploit groundwater, finds a study. This raises concerns about the country’s food security The farmer protests near Delhi have brought renewed attention to the agricultural practices of northern India, groundwater use in particular. A new study finds that states where groundwater reserves are at critical levels, such as Punjab, form the major source of cereals for around 76% of India’s population....
More »Govt needs to encourage more remunerative cropping patterns, while addressing farmer anxieties -Amitabh Kundu and Harbir Singh Sidhu
-The Indian Express Centre must make transparent efforts to push exports consistently and not follow the stop-go policy emanating from price controls for the Indian consumer market. The flashpoint between the agitating farmers and the central government is essentially rooted in the mismatch between the supply and demand for the wheat crop in India. The genesis of the current state of affairs stems from policies initiated over half a century ago when...
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