Centre convenes meeting of State Food Ministers on PDS modernisation A concerted move by the Centre to encourage the States to digitise ration cards has enabled it to weed out 2.96 crore bogus ration cards from the public distribution system. Of an estimated 10.56 crore ration cards, the number of cards has come down to 7.6 crores, Union Minister of States for Food and Consumer Affairs K.V. Thomas told journalists here. Bogus...
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Rural incomes to rise when fewer work for farm: Secretary by Nidhi Nath Srinivas
Downplaying the impact of drought in three states on national food production, agriculture and cooperation secretary Prabeer Kumar Basu says the number of people dependent on agriculture has to come down for rural incomes to rise. "We have sent our team for an assessment of the situation. None of this will affect overall production because it will be compensated by the rest of India where crop conditions are excellent. We will...
More »Food inflation at four-year low of 1.8%
-The Business Standard Economists question veracity of the data; say too early for RBI to cut rates. Food inflation for the week ended December 10 fell to a four-year low of 1.81 per cent, after declining to 4.35 per cent last week. The decline is much sharper than what Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu expected — he had predicted less than three per cent food inflation by early January. What’s more, many...
More »GM research being conducted on 72 plant species
-PTI Research work related to genetic modification (GM) in the agriculture sector is being conducted on 72 crops/plant species, Parliament was informed. "According to information available with ICAR ( Indian Council of Agricultural Research), research related to genetic modification is currently being carried out in 72 crops/plant species," Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. GM research is being carried in cotton, soyabean, rice, maize,...
More »FDI in Retail: Misplaced Expectations and Half-truths by Sukhpal Singh
The central government claims that allowing foreign direct investment into India’s retail sector will benefit small farmers, expand employment and lower food inflation. What has been the experience in India with organised retail so far and what has been the global experience with FDI? Sukhpal Singh (sukhpal@iegindia.org) is currently at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. After being under relentless attack for a week, the United Progressiv Alliance government was forced to...
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