A demand to reintroduce a universal Public Distribution System (PDS) in the country appears every now and then. Its proponents argue that universal access is necessary for ensuring food security, for better control on prices and for eliminating (at least partially) the evils of exclusion errors in the targeted PDS. The question is: what are the operational implications of access for all citizens to subsidised foodgrain? They are currently allocated as...

The revolution of the 1960s saved decades worth of greenhouse gas emissions. The Green Revolution of the 1960s raised crop yields and cut hunger — and also saved decades worth of greenhouse gas emissions, a study concludes. U.S. researchers found cumulative global emissions since 1850 would have been one third as much again without the Green Revolution's higher yields. Although modern farming uses more energy and chemicals, much less land needs...

Manipur households may find it difficult to fill their plates with rice next year, with the ongoing economic blockade robbing farmers of essential fuel to run their tilling machines. The food and civil supplies godown now has 7,132 metric tonnes of rice while the Indian Oil Corporation in Imphal has 1,223 kilo litres of diesel. The rice will last for a month, while the diesel can keep the state running for...

A big push to develop agriculture in the poorest countries is needed if the world is to feed itself in future decades, a report warns. With the world's population soaring to nine billion by mid-century, crop yields must rise, say the authors - yet climate change threatens to slash them. Already the number of chronically hungry people is above one billion. The report was prepared for a major conference on farming...

The well-intentioned food security Bill, cleared by the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) and now awaiting Cabinet approval, continues to raise issues that have not been fully resolved. Apart from the fact that it falls short of the Congress party’s election promise of guaranteeing nutritional security for the poor, it is still not clear how the government intends to mobilise the food stocks required to implement such a Bill across...