-The Indian Express Diverting rice to produce ethanol during the pandemic is unethical. Surplus grains should be used to feed those in distress. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and a country-wide lockdown came an announcement that was difficult to believe. The press release said the National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC) chaired by the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas has decided to use “surplus” rice available with the Food...
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Reasons to Produce Ethanol from Rice Stand on Shallow Ground, Say Experts -Ayaskant Das
-Newsclick.in ‘It is upon the Department of Food & Public Distribution to give the green signal to the FCI for releasing approximately two million tons of rice which has been earmarked for producing ethanol…’ a senior official from the petroleum ministry told NewsClick. New Delhi: Not only has the Central Government’s decision to use surplus rice stocks in the country for producing ethanol, been criticised for being done at a time when...
More »Foodgrain stocks bountiful, yet the poor are going hungry -Furquan Ameen
-The Telegraph Provide emergency ration cards, universalise PDS in rural areas and urban slums, says Dreze India’s foodgrain stocks have never been so bountiful, yet the government is struggling to ensure that no one remains hungry in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic that has sparked an unprecedented emergency involving jobless migrant workers, thousands of whom are stranded away from their homes. Stocks with Food Corporation of India was estimated to be around...
More »India lockdown: There’s enough food, but India is struggling to get it to people
-The Indian Express As far as the availability of food is concerned, the country has more than adequate stock. Also, thanks to a surplus monsoon, a bumper rabi crop is on its way. With markets shut, farm labourers absent from fields, and transportation services at a halt, is India likely to face a food crisis because of the coronavirus-induced lockdown? Possible, if steps are not taken in some key areas. As far as the...
More »Falling employment, low wages and food inflation -- the rural economy is in pain -Siraj Hussain
-Moneycontrol.com With priorities of the government changing, the agriculture sector is unlikely to see any major initiatives and reforms Inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November is further proof that agriculture produces only marginal surpluses. Only last year, observers were worried that the planners were not engaged enough to see that India is now surplus with most agricultural commodities. Please click here to read more. ...
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