Food security- Need for objective Analysis

The National Food Security Bill 2010 which aims to provide subsidised foodgrain has been hotly debated by the Experts The Targetted public distribution system which provides 35kg of food grains including Wheat & Rice to 65.2 million families classified as BPL (Below poverty line) and 24.3 million families in Antyodya scheme ( Rs 2 for wheat and Rs 3 for Rice) is proposed to be replaced by a new arrangement where all the BPL families would have access to 25kg of Foodgrains priced at Rs 3 ( In case of BPL families Rs 4.15 is being charged for Wheat & Rs 5.65 for Rice now) But the major question with this regard is the delivery problem According to planning commission own estimates 58% of food does not reach BPL families under existing distribution system Yet we seem to put all our confindence in the implementation of the new arrangement on the same distribution system Furthermore there are many fundamental flaws in the methodology of identifying families living Below poverty line There is also no common grounds among experts on what should be the poverty line In this context any legislation to be effective has to be more broadbased and objective A strict analysis of the existing apparatus is the need of the hour It should also take into account large number of families who are just above the povertyline because poverty is not a static situation Any hasty implementation would thwart the basic and noble objective that this legislation aspires to achieve

Free trade agreement - A boon or bane ?

In recent times Free trade Agreements ( FTA) undertaken by Indian Governments have polarized public opinion regarding the efficacy of the same Infact the Ministry of commerce lists 19 regional trade agreements which are in various stages of negotiations According to a rough estimate by 2014-15 India would have agreed on a reciprocal basis to eliminate tariffs on 85-90% of products with countries that account for 70% of Indias global trade But how prudent it is to open our huge market to the trading partners As like many issues in India it has thrown up arguments sometimes bordering on irrationality & sensationalism If we closely look at the FTA entered with ASEAN, one can understand the above assertion The FTA provide for eliminition of Tariffs on over 4000 products agri as well as industrial products This account for almost 80% of products It stipulates tariffs to be reduced to NIL by 2016 Roughly 10% products ( mainly agriproducts 500 in number) tariffs would be brought down to 5% These products are mainly plantation crops like coconut, tea,coffee,pepper,crude palm oil The final duty on sensitive farm products would still remain in the range of 37.5%to 50% Apart from this 489 items ( mostly farm products) would not be subjected to any tariff cuts So under the current situation Govt has done a commendable job The major grouse of the producers in India is that these smaller asian countries with better infrastructure and lower transaction costs would make our product offering uncompetitive which would later result in unemployment But this is a farfetched argument as international food boundries transcends every barriers Now the fight is for larger competitive production, high yeild & environmental issues We have to be prepared for the same As is clearly evident the future of every country in this planet is linked to food availability & production But at the same time Government has to keep a proper balance between the increase in imports & exports And more importantly SPS measures in Agricultural & food products some time act as a barrier So the govenment should remain vigilant while pursuing the objectives of FTA as for as Agrisector is concerned

PEST MENACE

Recent findings concerning huge amount of losses due to pests & diseases have alarmed analysts of Agri-sector According to a survey done by Crop care foundation of India, the country is losing agri-production worth Rs 1.48 lakh crore due to damage from weeds,pests & plant diseases This works out to almost 10-30% of the farm production Actually plant protection chemicals are being used only in 20% of cultivated area which is resulting in farmers losing their investment in seeds, irrigation & labour The per hectare use of pesticides is far low in comparison to developed countries India has less than 200 registered plant protection molecules which is lower than countries like Pakistan & vietnam According to a rough estimate the cost benefit raio of pesticide use is at 1;5 ,that is from the current consumption of chemicals ( which is 4000crore) if we raise it to 10000crore then the production would go up to 30000crore annually So the time has come for the government to reorient policies which would encourage use of environmentally friendly new generation pesticides and come hard on sale of spurious pesticides which is ruling roost in our villages Utmost importance should be given to safer and newer molecules as International food market has become very sensitive to the overuse of pesticides So the mantra is increase use of safer pesticides according to international norms & increase food productivity- production

Food security - The new global issue

Over last one year the food prices have rose alarmingly In a survey by the World bank the numbers living on less than$1.25 a day would increase by 89m between 2008 and 2010 This has alarmed Govts world over Thats why renewed emphasis on Agriculture has been on the agenda of many Governments But the problem is international grain trade suffers from lots of shortcoming which has resulted in this kind of situation The western countries have done little to reduce subsidies on Bio fuels which has taken out large quantities of Maize out of the food market and thus spike the prices Big food importers like Saudu-Arabia,kuwait,china & south-korea have prefered to grow food on land they own or control abroad rather than prefering to import through international trade Similarly in 2008 when Thailand vietnam (The worlds two largest exporters)banned exports of Rice there was an International panicky including India which resulted in all time high prices of Rice This coupled with Indias poor harvest further stressed the market This has led to a growing number of people advocating a mechanism which could replace such individual decisions by the government Thats why the International food summit in 2009 attended by 60 odds head of the states is a welcome sign The more we discuss about the food inadequacy the better would be fight against malnourishment,malnutrition This in addition to govenments determination to upgrade agricultural production of the respective country would be a welcome sign

Renewed emphasis on Agriculture

Sometimes i wonder whether we are giving sufficient thought to the ground realities whenever we are framing our policies The policies though well intentioned is not achieving the desired results Now the question is not about money but the practicability of the said policies Govt is spending huge money on the demonstrative effect to popularize various agrischemes But is there any evaluation of the so called demonstration? Take for example Maize cultivation and popularization among tribals We are working in the same project where each and every milestone was documented So that the work can be improved upon in the consequent years But curiously in case of Govt implementation there was no such accountability and more importantly they never prepared the poor farmers for consequent maize cultivation The poor farmers still feel that the Govt would give them free inputs year after year so they need not pick up the prudent agri-practices Had there been vigorous monitoring at least we could have created small number of farmers who would have taken up this cultivation as an appropriate income generating farming activity So time has come for vigilant civil society organizations to pursue these so that a vibrant farm activity can see the light of the day

The silent assasin

What happened in New-york is the stark reminder of the modern ways that the terrorists operate They are simply one among us who have been brain washed to take up this cause Now the question is how to deal with these people ? No amount of police activities can deter these people The time has come to understand the seriousness of this situation and carve out a pragmatic solution