Decentralized Sourcing, Distribution Can Cut Costs: Thinktank

How much would it cost the central government to provide grain to the whole country at affordable prices? A calculation by the Delhi-based advocacy group Centre for Budget & Governance Accountability (CBGA) puts the figure at Rs 2,38,471 crore for one year. In the current financial year (2012-13), the Centre spent Rs 75,366 crore on the food subsidy, that is, about 0.74% of the gross domestic product.

State governments are raising objections about the coverage under the proposed Food Security Bill, saying that covering 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of urban as advocated by both the draft Bill and the Standing Committee of Parliament is unacceptable.

“The Centre is saying that the proposed food Bill will ensure food for all. But in reality, this is not the case,” West Bengal Food Minister Jyotipriya Mullick said. He said the Centre should instead cover all sections of the population under the Bill and there should not be any provision for cash transfers under the Bill.

Caution Centre against trying to rush the new measure through Parliament

Even as the Centre hopes to introduce and pass the National Food Security Bill in the coming Budget session of Parliament, several States have expressed reservations on the Bill. At a consultation meeting of State Food Ministers here to evolve a consensus on the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee to which the government Bill was referred on Wednesday, many States differed on crucial provisions, particularly the ones relating to identification of beneficiaries, sustained availability of grains, proposed cut in individual entitlement and additional expenses to be borne by them.

Rural families in low income states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal depend far less on ration shops for wheat and rice than the national average.

India’s overall foodgrain production in the 2012-13 crop marketing year that would end in June 2013 was expected to be around 250 million tonnes, nine million tonnes less than last year’s revised record output of almost 259 million tonnes because of low production during the kharif sowing season, Agriculture Secretary Ashish Bahuguna said today.

According to the government’s first advanced estimate, foodgrain production during the 2012-13 kharif season is expected to be almost 9.8 per cent less than the kharif production of 2011-12 because of an uneven southwest monsoon in most parts of the country.

Blame it on climate change as Uttar Pradesh is witnessing a shift from the traditional variety of foodgrains to hybrid ones as there is a sharp decline in production of conventional varieties of wh

Crop-killing drought deepened in Kansas over the last week, further jeopardizing this season's production of winter wheat, a key U.S. crop.

Thiruvananthapuram: To strengthen the public distribution system, the state government has decided to entirely computerize the food distribution.

The initiative is abiding by the Supreme Court directive and will be implemented with the help of the central government, said food and civil supplies minister Anoop Jacob. A two-day seminar has been organized on January 28 and 29 in Thiruvananthapuram to mobilize expert opinion on the implementation the programme.

The government has approved four major donor-funded projects worth US$ 134 million in the agriculture sector that aims to boost livestock and food production, address climate change and environment