-The Hindu The World Bank has joined the chorus warning the world of an impending food crisis with damaging food price inflation. In its late-August edition of its Food Price Watch the Bank reported that global prices for food as reflected by its Food Price Index rose 10 per cent in July 2012 alone. The prices of staples such as corn and soya bean were at an all-time high that month,...

-The Hindu They will be able to secure a premium price for their produce, says Chief Minister Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday said foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector would help farmers secure a premium price notwithstanding the controversy surrounding the Central policy matter. Addressing a meeting after inaugurating a godown at the Agriculture Market Yard here, Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy said an investment of Rs. 500 crore...

-The Hindu Instead of rigid targeting, the government must build on the success of the public distribution system which is quietly becoming a significant means of social support In earlier writings, we have drawn attention to the quiet revival of the public distribution system (PDS) in many States during the last few years. Market prices of PDS commodities — mainly rice and wheat — have sharply increased, giving people a much greater...

-The Economic Times Ram Kishen, 52, half-blind and half- starved, holds in his gnarled hands the reason for his hunger: a tattered card entitling him to subsidised rations that now serves as a symbol of India's biggest food heist. Kishen has had nothing from the village shop for 15 months. Yet 20 minutes' drive from Satnapur, past bone-dry fields and tiny hamlets where children with distended bellies play, a government storage facility...

-Frontline A recession-hit world is only just waking up to the prospect of the coming food crisis resulting in a period of political turmoil with unexpected consequences.  For the third time in five years, the world is braced for another food crisis. Bad weather conditions are leading to projections of major production shortfalls in some of the world’s leading food suppliers. Substantially reduced access and sharp price increases are, therefore, expected to...