Another food crisis? This time it’s not shortages but prices—a plain failure of responsive policy and execution. Zooming food prices are raising political temperatures yet again. The rumblings, for once, are not merely restricted to the opposition parties, but evident within the ruling coalition as well. Though attacks from across the political spectrum have become a bit subdued of late, the target remains Union agriculture and food minister Sharad Pawar. And...

Dr U Jaikumaran is breathless with excitement over the phone. “The next five days will be hectic and crucial in our war against hunger. We have to transplant rice on 300 acres in just five days.” Dr Jaikumaran, a professor at the Kerala Agriculture University (KAU), has been building a Food Security Army (FSA) – men and women in green uniforms organised into nine regiments and 24 battalions – who are...

Bacillus Thuringiensis Brinjal, popularly known as Bt brinjal, is at the centre of a major controversy in India. Bt brinjal, a genetically modified strain created by India's number one seeds company Mahyco in collaboration with American multinational Monsanto, claims to improve yields and help the agriculture sector. However, the debate over the safety of Bt brinjal continues with mixed views from scientists working for the government, farmers and environment activists. Environment activists says...

With a large number of people living on subsistence level of income, the government has to safeguard their interest by ensuring availability of food grains at an affordable price. Success of any policy or programme to this effect depends on growth in agriculture production and procurement of wheat and rice, the main staple foodgrains. Though the performance of agriculture has not been uniform throughout and its growth rate has varied...

At a time when other countries are cutting down ethanol admixing with vehicular fuel due to tightening supplies of alcohol, India, oddly enough, is doing the reverse. The Union government has forced the states to raise ethanol doping of petrol from 5 per cent to 10 per cent immediately and has set the target of hiking it further to 20 per cent by 2017, least realising that the sugar industry,...