Last month, a boat called 'Furnace Australia' arrived in Madras. It was carrying half-a-million tonnes of wheat from Australia to augment dwindling reserves. Three million tonnes more will arrive in the coming few months.
For a nation notorious for famines not very long ago, this marks a seminal shift. But is it good news or news? Is it good news that a nation that was trying to achieve self-sufficiency 40 years ago can now afford to import it?
Or is it bad news that our farm production is falling, that agriculture is no longer the natural source of employment in the rural side, that it is leading to migration to the cities, that it is leading to suicides?
very dicey situation..!
jana agriculturenalli irbEku
irbEku andre alli profits irbEku
profits bEku ande cash crops bEku
rice & wheat beLsodu jana nillisbiDtaara ?
BBC has got a fine point here and I wonder why such a delicate issue has not been discussed and not received any comments at all!
Wheat Production : 78.4mt (around 2 tonnes above estimate) haagidru idu saakaagdirabahudu.
it’s a good recovery from 5.5mt imported 2-3 years back.
Cultivation Area: from 3.2m hectares to 3.5m hectares
import: may be 1-2 mt
(http://www.livemint.com/2008/07/09215517/India-grows-record-wheat-rice.html)
rice bagge ashTu chinte illa ankobahudu
Cultivation Area: 5.60 million hectares till July 7, up 18.9% from 4.71 million hectares a year ago.
production: 96.43mt
import: nil
(http://oryza.com/Asia-Pacific/India-Market/8802.html)
idanna nODi, u might feel that the concern raised by BBC is unyielded. (BBCge yaake chinte aagide andre.. chindia desha feeds rice & wheat to most of the world!)
but, I feel the concern is very much well positioned as it was 2 years ago and may be grave 3-5 years later.
yaako annistu illi naavu ITnavru IT-BT export import maataaDta kootirteevi konege rice & wheat shortage aaytu andre..
chapati, roTTi, breaDDu, pizza, cake-u, etc.?