New Delhi, November 4
Even as the common man grapples with unprecedented rise in cost of food items, the UPA government today more or less accepted that there was no immediate solution to the problem in sight and people may just have to wait for at least three to four months for rates of essential commodities to climb down.
Expressing concern over inflation in food prices with the production of staple items taking a hit due to drought and floods, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar assured the Economic Editors’ conference in the Capital that the Union government had taken several steps to control the spiralling prices of commodities. But he was quick to add that prices will not come down before three to four months, hoping that Rabi (winter) crops will come to the country’s rescue after a not-so-good show in the Kharif season.
Asked if he saw food prices easing over the next three months, Pawar said: “It’s difficult to say if the food prices will come down in the next three to four months. But the situation will change once the Rabi crops are harvested. We have taken measures to augment production in Rabi to partially offset losses in Kharif. Improved soil moisture due to late monsoon rains has improved the prospects of the Rabi crop”.
Pawar in a way contradicted Congress leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who have been saying the worse is over. Trying to wriggle out of the sticky situation arising out of Pawar’s statement, Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed tried to pass the buck on state governments and said the Agriculture Minister’s statement was being “taken out of context”.
“He (Pawar) just talked of ground situation. Cost of production, fertilisers, seeds have all gone up. We cannot tell farmers that even though input costs have increased they should still sell their produce at a lesser price. There is a huge gap between the CPI and the WSPI,” he said, asking state governments to reduce the gap by discouraging hoarding.
According to the government data, wholesale prices of food articles went up by about 13 per cent year-on-year for the week ended October 17. Pulses rose sharply by 23 per cent. Pleading helplessness in the face of rising prices, Pawar said only a bumper harvest in
next season will protect consumers from inflationary trends.
At present, the food production scene is not good. The country’s rice production is projected to slump by over 15.13 million tones (MT) to 69.45 (MT) this year after paddy crop was ravaged, first by drought and later the unexpected floods. In fact, production of all major Kharif crops, barring cotton, is slated to slide, as per figures released by the Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday.
As per the government’s first advanced estimate, the country’s rice output will decline by 15.13 MT this Kharif marketing season from 84.58 MT last year. Similarly, production of coarse cereals is projected to decline to 22.76 MT this Kharif from 28.34 MT a year earlier. Maize will be down to 12.61 MT from 13.90 MT, Jowar 2.55 MT from 3.10 MT and Bajra 5.83 MT from 8.83 MT.
Pulses output is estimated to fall to 4.42 MT from 4.78 MT last KMS, while oilseeds production reduce to 15.23 MT from 17.88 MT. Sugarcane will be down to 249.48 MT this season from 273. 9 MT in the last season. Only the cotton production will go up to 23.66 million bales of 170 kg each this year from 23. 15 million bales of last year.
The first official estimate of sown area and production of crops during the Kharif season, which otherwise is out by September, had got delayed this year due to drought and later floods. Officially called ‘first advance estimates’, the process is necessary to form a strategy for different crops during the Rabi season that follows Kharif. This year’s first advance estimate assumes even more significance as summer-sown crops have been affected adversely by a dry monsoon.
