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Food inflation- Potatoes 100%, Onions-40%

Food inflation edged up to 13.68 per cent for the week ended October 31, from 13.39 per cent in the previous week mainly on account of soaring vegetable prices. On an annual basis, prices of potatoes have more than doubled, while onions were expensive by about 40 per cent. The food items that experienced a double-digit rise included pulses (22.73 per cent), rice (16.63 per cent) and milk (10.3 per cent).

Barring cotton, output of all major crops, including sugar and foodgrains, will come down this year due to drought and flood in different parts of the country. According to Prof. Abhijit Sen, Member, Planning Commission, prices of primary agricultural commodities would increase this year. Prices of vegetables, pulses and fruits will peak because of supply shortages and absence of stocks, he said.

Industrial growth up at 6.5 % in first HY :

		Growth	Rate	in %
	SEP2009	Sep 2008	Apr-Sep 2009	Apr-Sep 2009
Mining	8.6	5.8	8.2	3.5
Manufacturing	9.3	6.2	6.3	5.3
Electricity	7.9	4.4	6.8	2.5

Industrial growth continued its upward march with factory production rising 9.1 per cent in September against 6 per cent in the same period last year. This takes total growth to 6.5 per cent during the first half of this fiscal against five per cent a year ago, official data showed today.

Consumer durables, which bore the brunt of the meltdown from October onwards, grew by 22.2 per c ent in September even on high base of 14.7 per cent a year ago. Intermediate goods production also grew by 10.8 per cent against a decline of 2.5 per cent in September last year and basic goods was up 5.7 per cent against five per cent. Capital goods also rose by 12.8 per cent on high base of 20.8 per cent. However, consumer non-durables grew by just 2.6 per cent against 4.8 per cent a year ago. PTI 121109

The September number is good due to festival season. We will have to wait for the October number.

Stimulus fallout: indirect tax mop-up dips 21.6% in 7 months :

Analysts attribute the fall in indirect tax collections to both stimulus packages, which cut excise duty by 6% and service tax by 2%, as well as economic slowdown. However, fall in indirect tax collection slowed down in October, declining by 13%, compared with an average of over 21% in the seven month period.

Under weight children more in India :

India has the largest number of stunted children below the age of five in the world, according to the latest UNICEF report released here. India has 7.4 million low birth weight babies per year-the highest in the world. One third of the world’s child brides live in India, which also accounts for a large number of unregistered births, according to a UNICEF report. Oct 09

Farming Faltering-Needs Fillip :

The country has all it takes to become a major global farm power. Its natural endowments include varied agro-climatic conditions, 270 days of sunshine, 880 mm of rainfall, 150 million hectares of cultivable land and 6,700 km of coast line.

Nearly two-third of the population (over 600 million) is dependent on farm and related activities for livelihood. Yet, the sector’s growth rate is an annual average of 2.3 per cent an annum last 10 years, sharply contrasting with the robust growth in manufacturing and services.

Despite rising output, per capita availability of foodgrains has actually declined in the last ten years - from 500 gm a day in 1997 to about 400 gm a day currently. Similarly, our edible oil per capita consumption is less than 12 kg, while nutritionists recommend not less than 16 kg. Food expenditure tops the family budget in India. On an average, food accounts for 54 per cent of monthly budget.

The main challenge faced by the country's agriculture is linking food market to farm. Food manufacturers constantly endeavour to produce at the lowest possible cost and find shortest possible supply chain for their products. Huge investments are required for infrastructure building and private players have an opportunity to invest in warehouses and cold storages. Unfortunately, public investment in agriculture has been on a declining trend. This has to be reversed.

The Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) has projected 2.3 per cent annual growth rate for food grains, four per cent for oilseeds and five per cent each for horticulture, livestock and fisheries. The growth rate is likely to be less than planned necessitating import of rice sugar, pulses and oil. BL 021109

Milk Production 125 mt :

India is the largest global producer of milk (125 million tons of milk annually).

The agro-food sector in India shows a huge potential that is yet to be tapped,’ Idrac said while speaking at an interactive session on Indo-French cooperation in agriculture and food processing, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here Monday.

‘So far, only 3 percent of the overall agricultural production (in India) is being processed; 35 percent in the dairy sector. In France, 70 percent of our agricultural output is processed into value-added products,’ she said.

US ready to help India in agri sector– Rs1.30 lakh crore to be invested in 3 years :

Agriculture has been and will be the anchor for India’s economic prosperity and the United States is keen to strengthen the Indo-US cooperation in the field of agriculture, said Bob Milligan, Chairman, US Chamber of Commerce. Bob wanted both the government and the private sector in India to come together to unify the agriculture market supported by a suitable food safety law, incorporating international best practices, which would facilitate further investments in the agriculture sector.

There is a move to invest$30 Bn (Rs1.30 lakh crore) in the food processing industry in the next three years in areas like manufacturing and processing of foods to packaging, storage and retailing, said S Sivakumar, Chairman, CII Foodpro 2009 and Chief Executive – Agri Business, ITC Limited.

Unemployment Index 1:300 :

SBI: 34 lakh applicants competing for about 11,000 clerical vacancies, over 300 candidates competing for one clerical post. The ratio used to be 1:100 in 1980s and 1990s.