-PTI The government's foodgrains stock rose by 21 per cent to 53.4 million tonnes as of April 1 from 44.3 million tonnes the year-ago period, according to the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Wheat inventory jumped to 19.95 million tonnes from 15.4 million tonnes a year earlier, the FCI said on its website. Similarly, rice stock rose to 33.35 million tonnes from 28.82 million tonnes the year-ago period, it said. Wheat and rice reserves...

In the mid-eighties there was a rumour which later turned out to be true: US livestock were being fed with foodgrains in order to ensure better quality of their meat. Later it proved to be corn and not fine cereals like wheat and rice. The Indian intelligentsia was appalled and indignant: How come cows and buffaloes were fed with grains while millions of people continued to live below the poverty line...

-The Economic Times   The much-awaited Food Security Bill, which is being vetted by Parliamentary Standing Committee, may see some changes before being cleared. "The committee may go for universalising the distribution of grains to cover wider range of population," ministry sources said. According to the original bill, the government is planning to make foodgrain available at low prices only to 'certain' targeted sections, that is, the below-poverty line population dividing the...

In a move that could end a face-off within the government on the proposed food security Bill, the food ministry has decided to make everyone, except the so-called creamy layer, eligible for receiving state-subsidized foodgrains. Those who can afford to pay market prices will be kept out of the intended list of beneficiaries through the introduction of the exclusion criteria in the Bill, which will also seek to allocate foodgrains on...

A problem of plenty is looming as by June 1, an estimated 12 million tonnes of foodgrain will have to be stored in the open in "kutcha plinths" with a bountiful Rabi harvest and procurement of 65 million tonnes of grain boosting food stocks to record levels. With states like Madhya Pradesh - apart from the wheat baskets of Punjab and Haryana - delivering bonus yields, food stocks are expected to...