The rising price of essential food commodities threatens to upset household budgets.Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, president of the wholesale food grains and pulses merchants’ association, speaking to DNA, said thatthe food security of the country is being undermined by faulty policy decisions.
Why is the price of sugar going upso much?
Sugar prices are not controlled byfarmers or traders. The government has been saying that it has enough buffer stocks to control the price, then why is it not releasing it? Let them release the stock. The prices will come down automatically. Many a time, delay in releasing additional stocks and exports without estimating next year’s crop yield result in price hike. Last year, the Union government exported 48 lakh tons of sugar. This has also contributed to the price rise. Now, we are importing sugar.
What about wheat and rice?
Though the wheatprice is still high — about Rs23 per kg — fresh crops are expected to reach the market in another 10-15 days. The centre has also intervened in the marketby releasing huge stocks of rice and wheat. Prices are expected to come down by Rs2 per kg in another two weeks. The price of dal is also coming down drastically. The state government too is chipping in by releasing rice and wheat supplies for sale in the open market. The decision to sell rice at Rs17 and wheatat Rs15 in the Janata Bazaars and co-operative societies will protect the interest of the middle class.
BJP national president Nitin Gadkari says commodities exchange is the cause of price rise. Do you agree?
He is right. All food grains should be removed from trading in commodities exchange. The speculative trade in the commodity exchange is like a gamble, where speculators have immense scope to manipulate the prices. We should remove food grains from commodities exchange.
What is the trend now?
The prices of food grains were high a week back. But now, there is a downward trend. Fresh crops are yet to arrive and once it arrives, the prices will come down even more.
What is the long-term solution?
Thanks to SEZs and large scale industrialisation, the land mass under agriculture is shrinking. If we do not give a profitable support price for agricultural commodities, farmers will abandon agriculture and migrate to cities, searching jobs. Shifting to commercial crops is another trend which will threaten our food security in the long run. As lesser and lesser farmers cultivatefood grains, the production will not grow proportionate to the rising population. The state and central governments should reverse the trend by encouraging farmers to grow more food grains, pulses and oil seeds. Otherwise the country will be forced to go back to dependence on import to feed our people.
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