France, others eye slice of Indian harvest

The wheel has turned a full circle. India, which was synonymous with hunger and malnutrition in the West, is now being called upon to export from its pile of food grain to ease the shortfall in overseas markets.

French Food, Agriculture & Fisheries Minister Bruno Le Maire broached the issue during a meeting with KV Thomas, India's minister of state for food and agriculture, last week.

The issue is expected to be raised by some other European nations during the G-20 meet to be held in Seoul in November, a senior official in the agriculture ministry said.

France has traditionally been conservative on allowing farm imports, thanks to the strong farm lobby within the country.

The demand comes amid a ban on the export of wheat and rice from India, and the rise in international prices on account of a shortfall in wheat production in countries such as Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

To protect its domestic supplies, Russia, the fourth-largest exporter of wheat, along with the other two countries has put a ban on export of wheat till December 2010. India is expecting around 246 million tonnes of food grain production in 2010-11, around 13 per cent more than drought-hit 2009-10 and around 5 per cent more than the bumper harvest year of 2008-09, the official said.

Moreover, the government has been battling with lack of storage space for a stock that is 1.8 times above the minimum buffer stock and strategic reserve requirements.

This has even prompted economists, including Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu, to suggest temporary easing of controls on exports.

At present, the international price of wheat is hovering around Rs 16,465 a tonne, compared to the domestic price of Rs 11,125 a tonne.

Agriculture ministry officials have, however, ruled out any move to relax the export ban on wheat as they are uncertain about the impact of the proposed National Food Security Bill. Besides, they are apprehensive about the unpredictable nature of farm output which is dependent on weather conditions.

"We are not negative when it comes to international needs. However, we have to ensure domestic supplies and there are other issues. With the Food Security Bill and the increased purchasing power of people, the demand for food grain is rising. Until our own demand is met, we cannot take a decision like this," the official said.

Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar had also ruled out exporting food grain. On the other hand, around 50,000 tonne of wheat has got wasted this year and more is rotting in open plinths.