The Centre for Policy dialogue (CPD) convened an Expert Group Consultation at its Dialogue Room on Saturday 4 August 2007. The meeting was called to discuss the state of affairs in the context of the ongoing floods in the country and the possible consequences in terms of relief and...

Achieving self-sufficiency in foodgrain production by 2012, reduction of prices of essential commodities, and poverty reduction were amongst the most important election pledges of the new government. These commitments are of complementary nature. Attainment of food security at the national and...

This paper examines the efficacy of the current system of public foodgrains management and policies in promoting food security in the country. It argues that the system has outlived its usefulness, and that continuing with the same only stifles growth in foodgrains, with very little welfare...

In the face of persistent rural poverty, an incomplete agrarian transition, the predominance of small and marginal farms and an emerging feminization of agriculture, this paper argues for a new institutional approach to poverty reduction, agricultural revival and social empowerment. It makes a...

Food security is defined as economic access to food along with food production and food availability. Agriculture in the SAR (South Asian Region) is caught in a low equilibrium trap with low productivity of staples, supply shortfalls, high prices, low returns to farmers and area diversification...

The contemporary world is witnessing certain critical changes in the domain of grain utilization. With the ongoing efforts to substitute fossil fuels with bio-fuels, there has been a rise in the importance of fuel-use of cereals. This adds a new dimension to the food-feed competition that...

The biofuel development boom has sparked concerns over deforestation and food issues and created a tendency to level criticism on the diversion of edible oil to fuel production. The nonfood oil plant Jatropha curcas L. appeared on the scene as the favorite response to this criticism. But,...