Many column centimeters in leading newspapers, including your paper combined with interesting sound bites in all TV channels have put before us multiple reasons responsible for the spiraling price rise. Out of these a few stand out which has to be tackled by policy makers on a war footing.
The planned increase in agricultural production shall meet the increasing population, the additional demand created by new generations aspirations and affordability. This is best achieved by careful planning and timely implementation of irrigation projects, making available at the retail level advanced improved seeds, tested soil enriching techniques to improve the yield and above all easy rural credit with minimal collateral to the rural agriculturist. In the absence of such a coordinated approach there will be gaps which will leave us exasperating at the slow agricultural growth rate.
On the other hand diversion of land from wheat to Bio fuels in developed economies is one more self centered approach of the developed economy which we need to understand to live with. Financial centers have established and put in place procedures & mechanisms that make it easy for the non informed to bring in their savings in to commodities and make a fast buck on scarcities. We should have sufficient negotiating clout to bring them around to stop such a move which we sadly lack (as proved in various WTO forums).
Further, given the depth of scientific community available with in the country and the financial resources available with us (we have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in other country's instruments for a rainy day!) it is really surprising that a concerted approach is not being taken to solve this fundamental problem.
Politicians should take note that their continued neglect of this fundamental issue will shake them up and even dislodge them from their exalted positions.
No comments:
Post a Comment