Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: It what is grim news for the common man, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday said that it is highly unlikely that soaring food prices will come back to reasonable levels in the near future.
Citing the poor monsoon this year as the reason, Pawar added that the prices of food items are expected to stabilise after the rabi harvest season early next year.
Speaking at the Economic Editors conference here, the minister also expressed concern over the inflation in prices of food articles in the country. he further said that the government has taken several steps to control the increases in prices of essential commodities.
"The year 2008-09 witnessed a spurt in the prices of food articles. However, the overall availability of essential commodities has generally remained satisfactory," Pawar said.
"Inflation in food article is a matter of concern," the minister said.
Pawar said the government's main concern was to ensure the availability of foodgrains for the public distribution system "so that the impact of inflation on common man is minimised".
"The increase in foodgrain production has been matched by increased procurement fo the central pool," the minister said.
Pawar also informed that the government targets additional
production of 8.5 million tonnes of foodgrain and 1.5 million
tonnes of oilseeds in the rabi season this year to compensate
for the loss of farm output in the summer season.
"Improved soil moisture due to late monsoon rains has
improved the prospect of rabi crops throughout the country,"
he said.
Foodgrain production was around 116 million tonnes in the
rabi season last year.
The government expects sugar production at 16 million
tonnes in 2009-10 season against 15 million tonnes in the last
season.
According to official estimates, released yesterday, the
country's foodgrain production, including rice, coarse grains
and pulses, would be down by over 21 million tonnes at 96.63
million tonnes in the summer crop due to the impact of natural
calamities.
Under the impact of drought and partly floods, rice
production is estimated to dip by 15 million tonnes to 69.45
million tonnes in the kharif harvest.