Popularly known as father of green revolution in India, M S Swaminathan, felt India has to provide at least 50 grain storages across the country of one million tonne capacity each for the successful implementation of the Right to Food Security Act. "We require at least 50 grain storages across India that can contain one million tonne of grains each. For the success of this project, by whatever name it...

In response to the Supreme Court order on rotting foodgrain, the Centre has decided to distribute wheat and rice to poor families at Rs 2 and Rs 3 per kilo, respectively. The Ministry of Food and Public Distribution System is also expected to brief the apex court on the steps taken to address the problem. In a letter to all states, the Centre has urged the state PDS machinery to distribute...

A common incidence of rotting food grains has been reported in India and the Philippines even as millions are starving. The problem has to be tackled with dexterity at both the domestic and regional levels to curb this alarming wastage of food that contributes to food insecurity at large. RECENT NEWS reports from the Philippines and India interestingly surfaced with one common problem -- rotting food grains in both countries, even...

Food inflation will defy government policies to remain in high single-digit levels in the long run, unless there is a change in an overwhelming bias among farmers towards staples such as wheat and rice, say economists and policymakers. A steady growth in population and rapidly rising income levels are adding to inflationary pressure at a time when agricultural productivity is showing a decline. A major reason is that the agriculture...

Seeking to pressurise the central government further on the issue of rotting food grains, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, Sep 18 urged the farmers to unite and corner the Congress-led UPA. The saffron party held a dharna in the national capital demanding better storage facilities, and minimum support price for farmers' produce. Speaking to the famers who gathered at the dharna, senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh said, "There is an...