Glut vs. Starvation
By Dr Arvind Kumar
Media reports indicate that India is set to have a record cereal production of 241 million tonnes this year. However, this news raises more worries of safe storage and higher costs of stock maintenance than spreading cheer. Since storage capacity is limited, more food will rot in rain. For too long the government has sat over piles of food stocks, hoping to use them once the food bill is passed. Food mismanagement is a regular UPA feature. As a solution the government has allowed wheat exports. However, given the low prices in global markets, this will not help. High prices despite godowns overflowing with grains are intriguing and point to a possible nexus. A cartel of firms sells flour and allied products at a huge premium to the market price of wheat. Central and state governments, despite being hobbled by high food inflation, have abandoned their prime duty of building leak-proof supply chains, breaking cartels, checking middlemen and containing prices of essential items, leaving the job of fighting inflation entirely to the RBI.
On the other hand, reports of farmers committing suicides continue to pour in and the people below poverty line can ill-afford the rising prices of essential commodities. Middlemen are raking a moolah at the expense of poor farmers and consumers. The food and water wastage should be made a criminal offence. Serious attention needs to be paid to agriculture and the grievances of the farmers should be addressed on priority basis. Small farms, official statistics show, are more productive than large farms and these are ideal for growing fruits and vegetables for better returns and to meet the growing demand.
