-The Tribune Experts urge the government to be cautious on wheat export, suggest an upper cap, say traders dictating markets New Delhi: Wheat production in the country is down due to “early summers”, the government’s procurement has reduced and the prices of ‘atta’ and byproducts like bread, rusks and biscuits are rising by the day. While the government is calling increasing exports as “beneficial” for farmers, experts are advocating “caution”, including imposing...

-PTI/ The Hindu World Food Programme report talks of a three-dimensional crisis — food, energy and finance The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has said that it is in discussions with India on procurement of wheat as several countries face food security challenges amid the Ukraine war. “We are in discussions with India on procurement of wheat. So, that is something which is ongoing,” the WFP’s Chief Economist Arif Husain said at...

-The Hindu Business Line Surplus stocks, high cost of production among worries Sugar mills in India gear up to start the new crushing season this month with a concern. Sugar production has grown at an annual growth rate of 5.6 per cent over the past two decades, while consumption has grown at 2.4 per cent per annum. In the last five years, consumption of sugar has remained relatively static at about 25...

-Down to Earth The government’s flip-flop on stockholding limits does not help pulses’ pricing issues The Union government’s decision on July 2, 2021, to impose stock limits on pulses till October 31 has once again fuelled the long-held perception that the country’s food policies are not even consistent, let alone being relevant. On June 5, 2020, the Union government issued the Essential Commodities (Amendment) (ECA) Ordinance, 2020, which was later legislated into an...

-Newsclick.in Government must explore non-conventional resources to achieve energy security. Its current policy to blend ethanol and biodiesel helps the biofuel industry at the cost of food security. In a recent press conference, the Union Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said that in 2020-21 the Centre allocated about 78,000 tonnes of rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) stocks to distilleries to produce ethanol. The distilleries got rice at a subsidised Rs.20...