The lush green Indian state of Kerala, advertised in travel brochures as "God’s Own Country", is at the center of a continuing battle in the country to secure an early ban on the use of the pesticide endosulfan. The Kerala government and activists say the pesticide has caused 4,000 victims in the state, through cancer, crippled limbs and babies born with deformities; 496 related deaths have been officially recorded. No scientist,...

The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) expected to meet on Monday is expected to take a view on an agriculture ministry proposal to export wheat and rice. The proposal is not backed by the food ministry, which wants to take into consideration the interest of consumers, and its own compulsions under the proposed food security bill, before moving on exports under an open general licence. Officials said the food ministry is...

The Prime Minister-appointed panel on Food and Public Distribution System (F&PDS) headed by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has suggested that the current system of distributing PDS foodgrain per household should be replaced with per capita allocation. According to National Sample Survey (NSS) data, lower income households have more members per family than higher income households, the panel has said in its draft report. Justifying its suggestion as a “progressive...

Bumper wheat crop poses new headaches Paradox Of Plenty     * Wheat projection of 84.27 million tonnes hit mandi prices     * Farmers await price revival; govt buys much below last year     * Wait for eGoM on exports as global demand, prices are higher     * Govt storage capacity already tight; fear of damage prevails     * Food security scheme launch to raise stock requirements *** It’s been a nerve-racking week for Brijesh Singh. The 34-year-old...

Poor families may find it tough to pay for medical care, children's education “Recent gains in poverty reduction made in Asia will be undermined” Resurgent global food prices, which averaged 10 per cent in many economies and posted record increases in the first two months of 2011, may push nearly 30 million Indians and 64 million people in the Asian region into extreme poverty, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday. In...