The proposed National Food Security Bill (NFSB), under consideration of Standing Committee of Parliament, may be reviewed for procurement and distribution of maize or corn (under coarse grains scheme) at Rs 1 per kg to intended beneficiaries. Without going into the merits and demerits of ever-increasing subsidies under NFSB, corn for human consumption is highly vulnerable to impermissible limits of fungal toxicity — called “aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, G2)”. There are...
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6.6 m. tonnes of wheat under open sky faces rain fury, admits Centre-Gargi Parsai
-The Hindu Food Ministry wants to limit grain procurement to the needs of PDS More than 6.6 million tonnes of wheat meant for the public distribution system, is lying in the open, running the risk of damage from rain, Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution K.V. Thomas admitted here on Thursday. The government’s priority was to evacuate the wheat, he said. Faced with a problem of plenty, the Food Ministry wants to...
More »Farm test but no industry to blame-Pranesh Sarkar
Bengal is staring at the possibility of losing self-sufficiency in rice unless the state manages to reverse a declining trend and step up production by as much as 12 per cent over the next four years. Lack of self-sufficiency in grain production need not necessarily be an alarming factor for a modern economy. But such a status is looming over Bengal in spite of factories not mushrooming on farmland — the...
More »Centre tells States to lift PDS food grain stock for 6 months
-The Hindu It lacks facility to store 20 million tonnes of grains, says Minister Crippled by the lack of storage facility for about 20 million tonnes of food grains, the Centre has asked States to lift PDS food grains necessary for at least the next six months. After participating in a seminar on ‘Food security – role of standards’, organised by the Bureau of Indian Standards here on Wednesday, Minister of State for...
More »Maximum support prices
-The Business Standard MSP hikes will stoke food inflation The government’s new kharif pricing policy, suggesting a steep 16 to 53 per cent increase in the minimum support prices (MSPs) of various crops, is unlikely to fully satisfy farmers even as it will stoke food inflation and swell the food subsidy bill. Approval of the new prices by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) came on the day that inflation numbers...
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