Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has declined to be dragged into the controversy surrounding the implementation of the food security Bill. The move assumes significance in the wake of the differences between Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) and the Rangarajan committee. Pawar said his ministry was ready to implement the Bill according to the decision taken by the government. On a visit to the state-of-the-art Gowardhan dairy at Manchar,...

The problem is all pervasive as the prices of almost all food items have been rising In a scenario that is all familiar in India and for that matter in many other countries too, rising food prices have become an extremely sensitive issue with major political and social ramifications that go well beyond the economic ones. Not that the economic consequences are unimportant. From the macroeconomic management point of view, rising food...

What’s Going Wrong?     * Market intelligence remains a weak link; farm policies rarely reflect correct scenario     * Extensive damage to crop in Maharashtra not factored in promoting onion, tomato exports     * Middlemen make capital while farmers realise 10-15% margin, not enough to recoup losses     * Government market intervention capacity limited to foodgrains and pulses **** India’s worst-kept secret was finally revealed when the government threw up its hands in despair in the...

The new era of price rise can be turned into a profitable proposition for the farmer. The decade that passed can safely be called agrarian. For good or bad reasons, the world spent the decade talking about agriculture. Food grain price rise was the talking point across the continents. To note a landmark, the decade ended an era of cheap food. After the food crisis in 1974 there was a continuous...

Favours subsidised foodgrains only for poor The C. Rangarajan Committee on the proposed food security bill favours legal entitlement of subsidised foodgrains to the poor (below the poverty line), but has rejected the National Advisory Council's recommendation that above the poverty line (APL) households be partially covered, saying it is not feasible at the current levels of grain production and procurement. “The assured delivery of subsidised foodgrains be restricted to the really...