Mukherjee says Govt Will Import Food Items

With drought set to cause fall in food grain and agri commodities production, the government has said that it will import those items that will be short in supply to meet demand.

“Decision is already there that whichever commodity will be in short supply, to maintain demand-supply mechanism, we shall go for imports,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said addressing state agriculture ministers in New Delhi.

He said that pulses and edible oil are already in short supply.

The minister clarified at the same time that the timing of the import will be not announced to ensure that prices are not jacked up artificially by the international players.

“The moment news is spread that India is going for big import, the market prices are jacked up,” he said.

Speaking on the effect of drought, Mukherjee said that it does not have bearing only on production, but it a cascading effect. Scanty rainfall will affect recharge of ground water.

Assuring the country that the government has the experience to deal with such situations, he said, “We need not lose confidence in ourselves.”

The government will have an estimated 18 million tonnes of wheat as of April 1, 2010 and 13.6 million tonnes of rice as of October 1, 2009.