Food waste index report 2024
<p>The world wasted an estimated 19 per cent of the food produced globally in 2022, or about 1.05 billion metric tons, according to this new report by the UNEP.</p>
<p>The world wasted an estimated 19 per cent of the food produced globally in 2022, or about 1.05 billion metric tons, according to this new report by the UNEP.</p>
Rituparna Bhuyan & Ajay Modi / New Delhi August 2, 2008, 0:42 IST Prices of key farm produce like wheat and rice in India are way below international prices, which means rural households will not be robbed of their income if liberal imports of these commodities are allowed. Data collected by Business Standard show that rice prices in India are less than half of global prices, whereas wheat sells at two-thirds of global prices. While soya oil prices are the same in the two markets, cotton prices are slightly higher in India. These commodities can be exported free of duty to India.
The Bengal famine of 1943 is arguably the worst economic disaster of 20th century south Asia. This paper traces the background of the famine and analyses the role of the land market in fuelling food price rise. It appears that in a monetised, already famished, agrarian economy, during situations of subsistence crisis, interlinking of food and land markets has the potential to cause an exponentially high degree of disaster. The role of a universal public distribution system, which carries over food from a surplus to a deficit year, and insulates the food market, thus becomes paramount.
Food security has become incresingly important globally as well as at domestic front as the global foodgrain production is not keeping pace with increasing population.
The food processing industry is one of the largest industries in India and ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and growth prospects. India, which is the second largest food producers in the world, lags behind when it comes to food processing which is very essential for increasing shelf life of the produce and providing more benefit to the growers.
The worldwide gallop in food prices has refocused attention on food management that had been relegated to the sidelines. India is also experiencing around 12 per cent inflation which is hurting the poor. Prices of food items are skyrocketing despite fall in per capita consumption in rural and urban areas between 1999-2000 and 2004-05.
As governments struggle with a sudden crisis caused by significant and rapid increases in the price of food, a companion crisis in availability of water also threatens billions of people. A hidden problem behind the food crisis is that as much as half of all food grown is lost or wasted before and after it reaches the consumer. And this wasted food is wasted water too. To meet the challenge of feeding growing populations and the global hungry, massive reductions in the amount of food wasted after production are needed.
The economic stability of the country depends to a great extent on the management of its food economy. In this paper an attempt has been made to study various aspects of and factors affecting food management in India in the light of the changing global food scenario.
Although China's agricultural reputation has been tarnished by widespread reports of food tainted with pesticides and other contaminants, the country is undergoing a rapid expansion in the production of and market for organic food. Spurred in part by growing demand for organic products from other nations, China now devotes more than 28% of its agricultural land to "eco-foods," which include organic foods as well as China's domestic "green" and "hazard-free" categories of food.
Buddha plays NTR card OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Calcutta, July 31: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today reduced ration shop prices of rice, pulses and palm oil, a few months after the panchayat and civic poll jolts that possibly prompted the relief voters in southern India are more familiar with. The chief minister, however, told the Assembly that the prices were lowered "to provide relief to people when prices had risen phenomenally because of the Centre's policies. For this, the state government will provide subsidy'.
Availability, accessibility and utilization of food are the three necessary conditions to achieve food security; yet food self sufficiency in India is often confused with the provisioning of food security. The country's self-sufficiency has also been dented with the massive imports of wheat in recent years.