Modi govt allocated 2.5 lakh metric tonnes wheat for NAFED, NCCF & Kendriya Bhandars which was later processed into flour & is being sold at ₹27.50 per kg at outlets & mobile vans.
The retail price in Delhi continues to be Rs 23 per kg while the farmers in Lasalgaon get only about Rs 7 per kg. The start-ups in the field have failed to connect farmers to consumers.
Only when the procurement of an entire range of commodities – from Manipur oranges and Uttarkashi apples to Sunderban raw honey– is put on an even and transparent keel will India’s rural economy grow.
Our leading agribusiness organisations and farmers can set up agriculture operations in Central Asia, Latin America, and Africa where arable lands are aplenty.
As of 31 July, agencies have procured over 1.8 LMT of onions — 90% of the aimed buffer stock. This will help price stabilising market interventions should they be needed.
Prices of pulses have seen sustained inflation this year, hovering above the Rs 100/kg in the retail market. Govt move comes ahead of gradual unlocking, with the festival season just weeks away.
Over the last two weeks, wholesale and retail prices have more than doubled in several markets across India, including the largest wholesale onion market in Nashik.
The government had nearly doubled its buffer stock target to 1 lakh metric tonnes after last year’s price rise, but so far, it has only procured 45,000 MT.
Contrary to naysayers, the RSS practices what it preaches. It is closer to the Gandhian teaching of improving the individual morally and spiritually to change the external environment.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
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