FOOD INFLATION- A PERPETUAL WORRY

There is often the talk of Good Monsoon bringing down the prices and people expectation soar accordingly. But these kind of predictions given by the Governmental agencies & economists are finding few takers in recent times. People continue to struggle with high prices . But there is a fear that this trend would continue even in future times This can be attributed to the structural problems associated with Indian Agriculture and unavailibility of labor in the rural sector .Our production strategies have all along been skewed in favour of staples Production of diary products,meat,fruit & vegetable have lagged behind This has been further aggravated by lack of better facilities to store and transport perishable items Even in case of cereals the economic cost of procurement of Rice & Wheat has gone up by 40.2% and 35.96% respectively (TOI) In this context mention must be made of Government of Indias MSP policy By hiking the MSP regularly the Government has allowed the farmers to cultivate the MSP crops with other crops are given less importance In this context it has become a Zero sum game- one acre addition in one crop has led to the simultaneous reduction in which MSP is low So this has thwarted the much needed diversification . Apart from these structural problems,the input costs have gone up considerably in the last few years. Labour shortage for farming and low mechanization process in Indian Agriculture has further aggravated the problem The continuos hike of social net programmes like MNERAGA and state goverments scheme of cheap rice have already created a difficult situations in rural labor markets So we are witnessing a situation where investment by farmer is just not matching up with returns So falling production & the resultant spikes in the prices So the time has come to attend to these structural problems and expediate the mechanization process so that the much needed growth can be achieved It is easier said but the problems that we are in, there is no scope for soft peddling . Urgent & timely actions are the order of the day.