CEOs need to accelerate their action plans to safeguard the production of commodities critical to the global population and economy as heat stress and drought risk rise around the world, according to PwC's
Wheat procurement in Punjab and Haryana so far has crossed 100 lakh metric tons and 51 lakh metric tons, respectively. The procurement in Punjab so far has been the highest in the last six years, while that in Haryana has broken the last three years' record, according to Food Corporation of India data. Out of the total procurement in Punjab, government agencies and FCI have lifted 93.95 lakh MTs, an official said here on Friday. In Haryana, government agencies and FCI have procured 50.40 lakh MT.
At your local kirana store, the middle income upwardly mobile Indian can be found buying branded atta which he proudly takes home and also a kilo of jwar and makka which he buys daily to feed the pigeons in his neighbourhood locality square. A mile away in a squatters colony, under a plastic shed a family of 5 also buys 1 kilo of makka daily to feed their hungry stomachs.
China is able to guarantee stable domestic food supply and price level due to the abundant grain reserves, said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Tuesday.
Sindh Food Minister Mir Nadir Ali Magsi has said that the province has so far procured 0.4 million tons of wheat and the department's vigilance teams are maintaining a strict check on the smuggling and hoarding of the commodity. Talking to various delegations at his residence, the minister said that the vigilance teams were carrying out raids for the purpose and the action was producing good results. He warned that a handful of hoarders would not be allowed to create famine to amass wealth.
India's concerns relating to grains, in general, and wheat, in particular, are becoming more serious. While demand continues to expand rapidly, output has turned unsteady in the last six or seven years, as much because of water stress and declining soil health as the effects of global warming. Wheat prices have doubled from what they were in early 2007. G. Chandrashekhar
THE PERPETUALLY outraged in the political spectrum on Tuesday got fresh ammunition for their anti-US rhetoric when the White House faulted India and China for the surge in oil prices. The statement comes three days after politicians here interpreted a statement of President Bush
As against scathing attack hurled at Government by the opposition political parties as well as the left allies over galloping inflation in the country, the ruling party at the Centre does not find enough reasons to be so much worried since the weather forecast of meteorological department suggests a near-normal monsoon in the current year that could lead to increased farm production in 2008-09 successively after good harvest of the previous fiscal.
The State Government is distributing the same red wheat under the Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojna which the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has criticised six-months back, alleged Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson JP Dhanopiya. In a press statement, Dhanopiya alleged that six-months back State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that Centre is sending red wheat which are not suitable for human consumption. Now, the State Government is supplying same wheat under it's much-hyped Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojna at Rs 3, he alleged.
The chairman of the food department's vigilance committee, Shah Nawaz Khan Magsi, has said that influential people are involved in the smuggling and black marketing of wheat and flour. Talking to journalists at press club on Saturday, he said that Sindh had a record production of wheat which was sufficient for two years but some unscrupulous elements, were engaged in black marketing and smuggling. He warned of strict action against them.
Punjab appeared to be set to create a record of sorts as the State Government on Friday claimed that procurement of wheat by various official agencies had already exceeded the target of 80 lakh tonnes fixed by the Union Government.
