Food Corporation of India (FCI) today asserted that loss of foodgrain stored at its godowns is minimal and said the government would add 16 million tonnes of capacity within the next two years. "It's not true to say that storage loss is as high as 30 per cent...Storage loss is less than 0.4 per cent for rice and none for wheat," FCI CMD Siraj Hussain said at a conference. "Bulk wheat-producing states...

Some people feel agriculture in India provides employment much beyond its capacity — that is, the number of people working on the farm is many times the actual requirement. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is among the proponents of this view. In his interaction with a group of editors last month, Singh said, “The only way we can raise our heads above poverty is for more people to be taken out of...

A fast growing economy is a thirsty economy and India is no exception—with the country’s water supply already under great strain, India must reassess its consumption to meet escalating demands for water to produce food and energy. Business-as-usual water practices cannot remain the same in India as the economy and its demand for freshwater grows over the coming decades. With an astounding 75% of freshwater already used for agriculture in India,...

Irregularities in the public distribution system (PDS) are rampant in the district due to lack of an effective vigilant mechanism. Fair price shop dealers, who are allegedly having nexus with politicians and bureaucrats, are diverting essential commodities to the black market. There are 2,600 fair price shops across the district and about 11 lakh poor families benefit with these. The vigilance and enforcement officials conducted several raids and unearthed illegally hoarded subsidised rations...

India's Public Distribution System (PDS) has been in a bad shape for decades, often thought to be beyond repair. Recent experience, however, suggests otherwise. Political will, increased transparency and community participation have led to an amazing revival of the PDS in Chhattisgarh though the state has only shown contempt for people's rights in other contexts… Somehow, the PDS became a political priority in Chhattisgarh and a decision was made to turn...