From the time a farmer in India harvests his produce to the time it lands on your plate, farm products go through several layers of middlemen, wholesalers, cold chains and other intermediaries, which push its price up by many notches. The end result: growers get paid less and consumers pay more. The stranglehold that the government has over agriculture produce marketing in India has given rise to abject inefficiencies, lack...

Climate change is springing an unpleasant surprise on agriculture in India, catching both farmers and governments unprepared. The erratic and deficit rainfall pattern and rise in temperature in recent years has even forced farmers to change cropping patterns and several areas have been declared drought-hit.Agricultural scientists acknowledge that even a mere one degree increase in average day temperature would adversely impact production of both wheat and rice crops (total annual...

The proposed Food Security Act is likely to float a fund to act as a backup in years of drought or flood. The contingency fund will facilitate direct cash transfer in place of foodgrain entitlements to families unable to access foodgrain due to reduced supply in the public distribution system.“We have suggested a fund for drought or flood, and when our production is hit. The fund will be with the...

An expert group appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to examine recommendations of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council on a draft food security law will present its findings by December-end. The NAC, which steers the UPA government’s social agenda, had drafted a framework for the Food Security Bill, which was presented before the expert group on November 26.“We are looking at the implications of the proposed provisions of the food...

The district supply office department will go online with the data on inflow of grains and available stocks in city fair price shops. The new system, brought in as part of modernisation of the public distribution system, is expected to put up the data by December 20.“We will put up the entire data online on www.mahafdopune.in, and this will enable citizens to check on the available stocks; this will ensure...