The South Asian nations are set to activate the SAARC food bank immediately after the summit meeting to help the member-countries tackle exigent situations after the foreign secretaries reached a consensus on the first day of their two-day meeting here on Tuesday.
They agreed to help each other for increasing agricultural production by providing each other technological support as well as making the distribution mechanisms of food-grains more effective.

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: The 15th SAARC Summit, scheduled for August 2 and 3, would come out with a declaration on "food security' and deliberate on the "collective action on modalities of dealing with menace of terrorism.'

The Standing Committee of the summit, comprising Foreign Secretaries of the eight Member-States, on the opening day of its two-day meeting on Tuesday agreed on the need for separate declaration on food security in the context of rising food costs and shortages experienced by the region.

KOLKATA, July 27: Amidst widespread fears that food security in the state would come under threat owing to the LF government's industrialisation policy, a report prepared by the state land and land reforms department reveals that in fact only 9,000 acres of farm land in the state has been converted for setting up of industries over the last two years.
Of far more concern, in the context of food security, is the fact that some 15 lakh acres of farm land remain uncultivated in the state every year mainly due to the financial constraints of marginal farmers and bargadars, as per the report.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide US$170 million loan to Bangladesh to cope with the rising food price, a bank release said yesterday.

The loan is a part of a broader food security package being extended by international agencies and also initiated by the Government of Bangladesh totalling a monetary value of US$1.29 billion.

The emergency assistance for food security project, which is supported by ADB and other multilateral agencies, will ensure access to food supply for those hardest hit by recent natural disasters in Bangladesh and the rapid increase in food prices.

V. Jayanth

Calls for global partnership to save the poor; "Act immediately to boost agricultural output'

CHENNAI: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the "double jeopardy' of high food and fuel prices threatened to undermine much of the progress made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Critical challenges

Devinder Sharma

Flood gates for farm imports are being opened. In what appears to be a deliberate effort to integrate Indian agriculture with the global economy, the government is removing import duties on agricultural commodities.

World Bank would provide US$100m to Bangladesh in the first phase as budgetary support to help the country build food security.

The assurance came yesterday after a meeting between WB Vice President for South Asia Region Isabel Guerrero and Finance Adviser Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam at Planning Commission office in the city.

Later, World Bank Country Director Xian Zhu told reporters they would provide the amount in the first phase but it would be increased further in phases.

International agreements on climate change, food security and energy use could drift beyond reach if next week's Geneva talks on liberalising world trade collapse, Peter Mandelson, the European Union's chief trade negotiator, warned on Thursday.

"The chances for a breakthrough are improving, but that breakthrough is not yet in the bag,' said Mr Mandelson.

A Doha deal was important, he said, because "the global economy faces a barrage of problems... It would bring fresh confidence to a world economy that is certainly in need of it'.

Aloron, a hybrid variety of Aus believed to have more than three times the yield and a shorter turn over period than the traditional Aus.

Federal Science and Technology Secretary Sharif Ahmad has said that water conservation is essential in attaining food security. "We need to develop a culture of water conservation at grass root level, and also invest in both major and mini reservoirs to store water," he said.