Lack of knowledge, fear of political criticism are some of the reasons that are stopping FCI, according to experts What is stopping Food Corp. of India Ltd (FCI) from selling its ample wheat stocks in the open market and buying futures contracts to meet its distribution commitments in the months ahead? Or, for that matter, what is keeping the food procurement agency from selling grain futures internationally, knowing that a bumper crop...
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Food security: Delivering the promise efficiently by Ashok Gulati, Jyoti Gujral & T Nanda Kumar
To banish hunger and malnutrition from the country, Parliament is likely to pass the National Food Security Bill (NFSB). In our earlier article on this issue, Can we Afford Rs 6-Lakh-Cr Food Subsidy Bill in 3 Yrs? (ET, December 17, 2011), we concentrated on the likely financial implication that we estimated at roughly Rs 6,00,000 crore over a period of three years. In this piece, we address the operational challenges...
More »Check Govt Grain Buys, Use Cash Transfers or Food Coupons: Study by Prabha Jagannathan
Massive grain procurement to meet the requirements under the proposed national food security law could drive out the private sector and have larger implications on the state of the domestic procurement market, a study on food and nutritional security has warned. Apart from impacting exports and cereal price in the open market, rising public procurement will only make it costly to buy, store, transport and distribute grain, the study said, adding...
More »Storage issues may spoil the food party by Kunal Bose
According to the third advance estimate, India’s foodgrain production in the current farm year (to end in June 2011) will be a record 235.88 million tonnes, including an all-time high wheat output of 84.27 million tonnes against 81.47 million tonnes projected earlier. Ahead of the wheat harvest, the country had buffer foodgrain stock of 47 million tonnes at the start of 2011 in the central pool. A buffer close to double...
More »Wheat output may rise 1.5% on good rain by Komal Amit Gera
The worries of state procurement and storage agencies may accentuate, as the wheat crop this rabi season is likely to have a higher output this year. The Ministry of Agriculture has projected a crop size of 82 million tonnes as compared to 80.71 million tonnes last year. “Although a bonus of Rs 20 a quintal is a pittance, it will not dissuade farmers from growing wheat, as it is a stable crop...
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