High food
inflation to persist
in urban India: Swaminathan
Noted argiculture
scientist M S Swaminathan today
said the current spike in food inflation is likely to persist
for some time in urban India and described price rise as
'man-made'.
"High food inflation is here to stay,
specially in urban
cities as economy
is mismanaged. Food inflation is man-made (
in big
cities)," Swaminathan said on the sideliens of a
conference here.
Swaminathan, who is the harbinger of the
Green Revolution
in the country,
called for streamlining of the supply-chain
and post-harvest
systems in the economy.
"We need a holistic approach to
streamline procurement
and reform
supply-chain and post-harvest systems," he said.
His statement assumes significance at a
time when food
inflation remains
a major concern for the government and the
RBI.
As per the data released today, food
inflation stood at
13.07 per cent
for the week ended January 29.
High food prices specially of kitchen
staples like onions
have prompted the
government to take a slew of measures
including export
ban.
Experts have in recent times also pointed
to the glaring
diparity between
the wholesale prices and the rate at which
food items are
being sold to consumers in the retail market.
Illegal hoarding and losses due to lack of
proper storage
and warehouse
facilities have been blamed for such a
situation.
As much as 30 per cent of the country's
vegetable and
fruits are
estimated to be wasted before reaching the
consumer.
However, according to Swaminathan, the
high food prices
have not led to
increased profit for the farmers
He said that "it was difficult to
strike a balance
between rural
consumers (also farmers) and urban consumers.
Rural farmers are
struggling to get fair price for their
produce, while
urban consumers want lower price".
"The whole system is very weak,
storage and
transportation is
poor and there is no organised system," he
noted.New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI)
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