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According to an evaluation undertaken in 11 States by the National Council for Applied Economic Research in 2008, diversion of wheat and rice takes place in cereals meant for all categories — Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), below poverty line (BPL) and above poverty line (APL) ranging from 40 to 100 per cent.
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In the case of Assam, the diversion is total in the case of wheat for APL and 83 per cent in the case of rice. In Bihar, diversion of wheat meant for AAY and BPL is above 40 per cent, while in the case of Chhattisgarh 78 per cent of the wheat for APL is diverted. B L 230910
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| Higher support price motivates farmers to up land for pulses |
According to data released by the Agriculture Ministry on Thursday, foodgrains production is expected to increase 10 per cent to 114.63 million tonnes (mt) against 103.84 mt a year ago.
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The production of rice is projected to go up 6% to 80.4 million tonne while output of pulses is expected to rise 33% to six million tonne.
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The higher purchase price announced by the government has finally driven farmers to set aside more land for pulses this kharif. This year the acreage for pulses is pegged at 17.33 lakh ha, higher than the same time last year. In the thick of a prolonged double digit food inflation, support prices were hiked up to 33%, between Rs 380 and Rs 700/quintal, to lure farmers to plant more pulses.
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Sugarcane production growth has also been pegged at 17%, spurring hopes of lower sugar prices.
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| Oilseeds production is projected to gain 10 per cent at 17.27 mt but lower than 17.81 mt in 2008-09. Groundnut is projected to increase 54 per cent at 5.64 mt but other oilseeds, especially key kharif crop soyabean, is projected to witness a drop. |
Cotton is seen at a record high of 33.50 million bales (of 170 kg) each.
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The country has so far received 4% more rainfall than the long-term average and the good soil moisture is expected to help the rabi crop as well. The planning commission expects the farm sector to grow 5-6% in the current year. ET/BL:24/09/2010 |
GDP Fetish-No concern about wide spread hunger
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Those in positions of power and influence seem to be too absorbed with robust rates of GDP growth and stock market rallies, but appear to be little concerned about widespread hunger and pervasive malnutrition which can potentially drag down the country's growth prospects, if not addressed without delay. There is serious protein and calorie deficiency afflicting several millions.
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The manufacturing and services sectors have been posting healthy growth rates; but agriculture is still a drag on the growth rate in the economy. The benefits of overall economic growth do not seem to reach over half the population, which is dependent on agriculture and related activities for its livelihood.
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Even as progressive policies are essential to sustain robust growth in manufacturing and services, neglect of agriculture will be at our own peril. For the last ten years, the farm growth rate has averaged less than 2.5 per cent a year. This must change, but there are no positive signals on the horizon. The Planning Commission projections of a 4 per cent annual average growth for the farm sector for the Eleventh Plan period have gone for a toss. There is neither accountability nor a sense of remorse; and ironically, the same 4 per cent growth rate is considered good enough for the ensuing Twelfth Plan.
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Agriculture calls for more public investment as well as scientific monitoring and evaluation of various programmes covering inputs, irrigation, agronomy and rural infrastructure. Strengthening the input delivery system to ensure quality and appropriate pricing of seeds, fertilisers and agro-chemicals, as also rapid expansion of actual area under irrigated cultivation can help transform the farm sector. But all this calls for genuine commitment from policymakers. BL Editorial 230910 In India, Agriculture has the connotation of poor man’s business: Global investors appear to be weighing large-scale farming as alternative investment avenue with runaway gold prices denying them an effective hedge against deceleration of economies, besides market volatility.
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| Mr Jacob Mathews, Managing Director, MAPE Advisory, said internationally people were betting big on agriculture and wanted to invest in it for obvious reasons such as food shortage. |
Referring to the Indian scenario, Mr Mathew said the trend has not caught up as agriculture still had the connotation of a poor man's business. BL 220910
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| MEANING OF HIGH FOOD PRICES |
However, the incredibly high prices of pulses and vegetables, besides the rising prices of rice and atta for a continuous period of nearly a year showed that demand can hold at these prices on account of increase in incomes. For another portion of lower-income consumers the PDS and employment programmes must have helped. High prices would have been hard to sustain without subsidised PDS and the other social sector programmes such as the NREGS. Shashank Bhide -BL 220910
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Krsr/and/250910
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