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Days of cheap food and fuel are over,
says farm scientist
Soaring food prices are intertwined with
that of fuel, so this will happen until
oil prices will eventually stabilize,
says William Dar, Director-General,
ICRISAT
Anil Penna
The World Food Summit in Rome this month
set the goal of cutting “by half the
number of undernourished people by no
later than 2015” and pledged action to
combat the food crisis.
In an email interview after the summit,
William Dar, director-general of the
Hyderabad-based International Crop
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics, or Icrisat, discussed the
crisis and factors stoking it. The world
better get used to the fact that the
days of cheap food and fuel are over,
said the Filipino agricultural
scientist, the first Asian to head the
institute.
Edited excerpts:
India had a record food crop in the year
gone by, and government procurement
levels are impressive. Yet food prices
continue to soar, judging from the
weekly inflation rate. Why is that
happening?
Soaring food prices is a continuing
phenomenon that has been happening for
years. However, it has been more
pronounced in the past 6-8 months. In
fact, as mentioned (on) BBC, India’s ban
on export of rice has contributed to the
rising price of rice worldwide. Soaring
food prices are intertwined with that of
fuel, so this will happen until oil
prices will eventually stabilize. When
that will happen, we don’t know.
Can you comment on India’s response to
the crisis on food and food price
inflation, the export curbs?
The government of India is doing its
best to control prices despite strong
external forces. The food crisis is a
global phenomenon, so domestic actions
are not sufficient to control this
problem. These take time and we cannot
expect an immediate solution.
What further action do you think needs
to be taken?
The most practical action is to launch
an intensive food production programme
to increase domestic supply and support
Indian farmers to attain this.
Once supply is adequate, prices will
stabilize. Edible oil is in short supply
in India, therefore there is a need to
import and ensure adequate domestic
supply.
What has led to the food crisis and
fuelled it?
Dwindling international supply of
cereals coupled with soaring demand as a
result of changing food habits and
propelled by soaring oil prices led to
the food crisis.
Dwindling supplies were mainly due to
drought and bad growing seasons in major
cereal-exporting countries such as
Australia and the US; use of corn for
biofuel production in the US and Europe;
and of course the increasing price of
crude oil. The other innocuous factor is
the decline of funding to agricultural
research.
Is increased food consumption in the
emerging economies, particularly in
India and China, and changing food
habits to blame?
Although it is true that food habits
change with an improved economy, it is
not completely correct to attribute the
food crisis to this fact.
The government of India is providing
rice and wheat at subsidized prices in
the country, making it easier for
Indians to consume such commodities. If
cereals such as sorghum and bajra were
also sold at subsidized prices, it would
benefit the consumer, and there would be
more demand, which would eventually
benefit the farmer.
It is perhaps more true that the rising
prices of crude oil and petrol are
contributing to the rising prices of
food, as transportation of food is bound
to cost more, as also the cost of
fertilizer.
When can we see normality restored on
the global—and Indian—food and food
price fronts? How do you assess the
results of the Rome summit?
The Indian (and global) food situation
will normalize with a sustained national
food production programme, with the
government mobilizing all support
systems (land, improved seeds, water,
fertilizer, low-cost credit,
extension-information, post-harvest and
marketing) at the hands of farmers—our
chief producers of food.
The credit crisis and food and fuel
crises have dovetailed and seem to be
feeding off one another?
As we mentioned earlier, the food and
fuel crises are intertwined and this is
now the world’s major challenge.
Everything is uncertain now, but one
thing is sure: the days of cheap food
and fuel are over.
It is difficult to give a hard and fast
answer to these questions as needs
change according to the situation, but
moderation in all aspects of life is an
age-old practice we can follow. We need
to keep producing food in order to live.
We must also explore alternative sources
of energy and power for the immediate
future.
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On 6/16/08, pradeep mohapatra <udyama.pradeep@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Dear all,
> plz find good note on SRI attached
herewith. Now SRI has
> demonstrated that this can be another
viable practice to mitigate
> global food crisis once it is scaled
up. this can be one viable option
> for climate justice and address
variability and more resilient
> towards food and and environmental
security.
> be a part of it. best
>
> On 6/7/08, pradeep mohapatra <udyama.pradeep@gmail.com>
wrote:
> > IMF Deputy Managing Director:
Climate Change Poses Serious
> > Macroeconomic Challenges for
Low-Income Countries
> > Climate change poses "particularly
serious macroeconomic, fiscal, and
> > financial challenges for low-income
countries," said Takatoshi Kato,
> > Deputy Managing Director of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) at
> > the Fourth Tokyo International
Conference on African Development
> > (TICAD IV), which conve...
> > Date: Jun-04-2008
> > Contributed by: Immaculate Bugingo
> >
> >
> >
> > On 5/17/08, pradeep mohapatra <udyama.pradeep@gmail.com>
wrote:
> > > thanks for your reflection ,
> > > best.
> > >
> > >
> > > On 5/14/08, Nitya Jacob <nitya.jacob@un.org.in>
wrote:
> > > > Isnt it ironic they call for
resolving the water crisis given the
amount of
> > > > water Pepsi and Coke use for
bottling their drinks and bottled water.
Making
> > > > those bottles and chilling them
for customers adds to global warming.
The
> > > > bottles then fill up garbage
dumps adding to civic problems and also
global
> > > > warming.
> > > >
> > > > We may enjoy the soft drinks of
these industries, but they should carry
> > > > warnings just like cigarettes
do. If Mother Dairy and Amul can see a
market
> > > > in packaging lassi and
buttermilk, what's to stop these people
from doing.
> > > >
> > > > On climate change, it's a
reality but its effects are not being
understood.
> > > > We need flexibility to
understand and adapt to the effects of
climate, the
> > > > most notable is erratic
rainfall. A better system of predicting
rain can
> > > > help farmers manage their crops
better and others to harvest rainwater
more
> > > > effectively. Unfortunately we
are nowhere close to having an effective
> > > > system in India, while websites
give better weather predictions, at
least
> > > > for cities.
> > > >
> > > > Nitya Jacob
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Nooyi, Gulabchand call for G8
focus on water crisis
> > > > CEOs of 19 corporations,
including Indra K Nooyi of PepsiCo and
Ajit
> > > > Gulabchand of Hindustan
Construction Company, have called upon
the
> > > > leaders of G8 countries to take
urgent action on the emerging global
> > > > crisis in water and sanitation.
> > > >
> > > > +Read More
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On 5/9/08, pradeep mohapatra <udyama.pradeep@gmail.com>
wrote:
> > > > > Asian bank in food crisis
warning
> > > > > The Asian Development Bank (ADB)
has warned that the crisis of rising
> > > > > food prices could reverse
gains made in reducing poverty across
the
> > > > > continent.
> > > > > --
> > > > > Pradeep Mohapatra
> > > > > Team leader,
> > > > > UDYAMA,
> > > > > HIG-283/K-5/KalingaVihar,
> > > > > Patrapada post,
> > > > > Bhubaneswar-751019
> > > > > 0674 2475656,
> > > > > +91 9437110892
> > > > > www.udyama.org
> > > > > Look to Learn ------- to
Know----- to Show----- to Grow The name
...
> > > > > Skype-pradeep.mohapatra
>
>
> --
> Pradeep Mohapatra
> Team leader,
> UDYAMA,
> HIG-283/K-5/KalingaVihar,
> Patrapada post,
> Bhubaneswar-751019
> 0674 2475656,
> +91 9437110892
> www.udyama.org
> Look to Learn ------- to Know----- to
Show----- to Grow The name ...
> Skype-pradeep.mohapatra
>
--
Pradeep Mohapatra
Team leader,
UDYAMA,
HIG-283/K-5/KalingaVihar,
Patrapada post,
Bhubaneswar-751019
0674 2475656,
+91 9437110892
www.udyama.org
Look to Learn ------- to Know----- to
Show----- to Grow The name ...
Skype-pradeep.mohapatra
.
.
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