<!--emo&:argue--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/argue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='argue.gif' /><!--endemo--> Bush blames India for rising food prices
Washington (PTI): U S President George W Bush joined U S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in blaming the rising prosperity of India's huge middle class for the spiralling global food prices.
Prosperity in countries like India is "good" but it triggers increased demand for "better nutrition" which in turn leads to higher food prices, Bush said.
At an interactive session on economy in Missouri, Bush argued that there are many factors for the present crisis, only one of which was investment on biofuels like ethanol.
"Worldwide there is increasing demand. There turns out to be prosperity in developing world, which is good. It's going to be good for you because you'll be selling products in the countries, you know, big countries perhaps, and it's hard to sell products into countries that aren't prosperous. In other words, the more prosperous the world is, the more opportunity there is," the US President said.
"It also, however, increases demand. So, for example, just as an interesting thought for you, there are 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. That's bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population.
"And when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up," he said.
The comments come close on the heels of Rice cooking up the theory that "apparent improvement" in the diets of people in India and China and consequent food export caps is among the causes of the current global food crisis.
Bush also listed change in weather patterns and increase in basic costs like that of energy as factors contributing to higher food prices.
"No question that ethanol has had a part of it. But I simply do not subscribe to the notion that it is the main cost driver for your food going up," Bush said.
Several international experts have in recent days held biofuels, until recently cast as a miracle alternative to polluting fossil fuels, for being responsible for usurping arable land and distorting world food prices.
"Actually, the reason why food prices are high now is because, one, energy costs are high, and if you're a farmer, you're going to pass on your cost of energy in the products you sell, otherwise you'd go broke.
"And when you're paying more for your diesel, paying more for your fertiliser because it's got a lot of, you know, natural gas in it, in other words, when your basic costs are going up, so does the cost of food," Bush said.
He said there are two aspects of rising food prices -- its effect on US citizens and the fact that there is a food scarcity in the world.
"We don't have a scarcity issue in America...We got a price issue. Our shelves aren't going empty, it's just costing more money," Bush said.
"There is scarcity in the world, and I happen to believe when we find people who can't find food we ought to help them find it," he said adding, "America is by far the most generous nation when it comes to helping the hungry."
"We're an unbelievably compassionate nation," he said.
"I think we ought to change our food policy in Africa and other developing countries...buying food directly from farmers as opposed to giving people food. I think we ought to be saying, 'Why don't we help you be able to deal with scarcity by encouraging your farmers to grow and be efficient growers? Otherwise, we're going to be in this cycle forever."
(continuing fron last lines of above post)..and dont eat animals, eat what is grown off the ground directly. Much more efficient. Stop feeding 5 times the world's daily grain consumption to your animals so that u can slaughter them and enjoy your beef (and your Nolvadex, Cisplatin, BCNU, radiation, and surgery once you cross 40)..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>India explodes against food amBush </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
India has lashed out at US President George W Bush for blaming the growing demand in India for the spiralling global food prices.
Political parties here said a major reason for spiralling global food prices was diversion of land producing food crops in the US to bio-fuel production, while the Government said Bush was "completely wrong" in his assessment.
"George Bush has never been known for his knowledge of economics. And he has just proved once again how comprehensively wrong he is. To say that the demand for food in India is causing increase in global food prices is completely wrong," Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said.
<b>The BJP utilised Bush's remarks to attack the UPA Government over its 'failure' to check rising prices. The main opposition said that the "statement by Bush fixes into the frame of irrelevancy of statements of the UPA Ministers. It is similar to Praful Patel saying that price rise is due to change in food habits."</b>
The Left also denounced Bush with CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat saying: "At a time when millions of people in India are unable to get enough food to eat and suffer from malnutrition, Bush's insensible remarks about India's prosperity affecting global food prices are adding insult to injury."
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I just don't get it, why Indian minister is making personal attack on Bush. This is stupidity of highest order. These morons don't know protocol.
They should have used US policy or Bush Administration policy.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Perhaps, it is time to include the lifestyle choices of the West in the whole feverish debate on how to tackle the global food crisis.
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x-post
<b>'Bush comments aimed at mounting pressure on India' </b>
Sun, May 4 04:44 PM Link
Chennai, May 4 (PTI) The BJP today said US President George W Bush's comments that global food shortage was due to increasing demand from India's middle class for quality food, was aimed at <b>mounting pressure on India to accept the agricultural practices propounded by the country</b>. Bush was trying to put the blame on India, instead of having a look at his country's policies and the way rich countries were managing globalisation, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi told reporters here <b>"Instead of agriculture, they have gone for agri-business</b>.
America's diversion of corn to produce ethanol and trading practices have resulted in acute food shortage," he said, adding that the major objective of the Western food policy was to keep a large number of countries dependent on them. <b>"Our Prime Minister has already entered into an agreement with the US on agricultural sector </b> <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo--> and it's unfortunate that the Centre has not come out openly to discuss the agreement.
" Joshi said the Centre has already appointed a board, with representatives from <b>Monsanto and Wal-Mart in it, to implement the provisions of the agreement.</b> "However, both multinational companies do not have any knowledge on the Indian agricultural sector," he said.
He alleged that the economic policies framed after the 1990s was one of the main reasons for rising inflation and acute food shortage in India and demanded that the policies be reviewed. "We should have a re-look at the fundamentals of the country's agri-policy.
The Indian agriculture sector should not be completely linked with the international agricultural market," he said. PTI.
Hedge funds are manuplating food grain price and trades had started hording grains. India is leading in hoarding business. Unrest in Mynamar is causing cerals shortage.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Burma's junta grabbing farm land for biofuel </b>
Bangkok: A plan by Burma's ruling military for large-scale growing of a promising but little-tested biofuel crop has turned into an agricultural debacle, claim Opposition activists.
A report prepared by them claims the policy hurts an already ailing agriculture sector. It came as biofuels draw intense scrutiny as to whether their benefits offset the resources they take from food production.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has suggested that biofuel crops may be causing staple food shortages and driving up food prices.
<b>"A draconian campaign by Burma's military to grow eight million acres of the jatropha tree for biofuel production is resulting in forced labour and land confiscation throughout the country, while evidence of crop failure and mismanagement expose the programme as a fiasco," </b>the report says.
The report, Biofuel by Decree: Unmasking Burma's bio-energy fiasco, has been produced by the Ethnic Community Development Forum, a self-described alliance of seven community development organisations from Burma.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Bush fire </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
<b>India's self-created food crisis</b>
Admittedly, President George W Bush's statement that part of the reason for the global food crisis was newly prosperous entrants to the Chinese and Indian middle classes had begun eating more was always prone to misinterpretation. However, before a hysterical media and polemical politicians convert this into a "neo-imperial" conspiracy against India - conveniently ignoring the fact that China has seen the presidential comment in a matter-of-fact way and not bristled in anger - it would do to revisit some of the statements made by Indian politicians in the past few weeks. Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, too, has ascribed food inflation to India's recent economic boom, pointing out more families are eating at least one full meal a day and families that hitherto ate one meal are now eating two. <b>Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has blamed wheat prices on changing dietary habits in the country, claiming that "south Indians eat more wheat now". </b>As remarks these are scarcely very different from those of Mr Bush, and are perhaps even more objectionable and nonchalant. Yet, there is greater glory and there are more headlines, one supposes, in attacking the American President.
Today, India is paying the price for this reckless neglect of an emerging agricultural catastrophe. To cite a random example, India has seen a decrease in pulses production from 14.26 million tonnes in 1990-91 to 13.38 million tonnes in 2004-05. This is despite the fact that, among all countries, it has the biggest mass of land devoted to pulses production. In refusing to anticipate increased consumption - as people ate more or, simply, as there were more people to eat in the first place - India is paying for its short-sightedness. Is the American President responsible for this? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
On dot.
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+May 6 2008, 12:58 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ May 6 2008, 12:58 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Bush fire </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
<b>India's self-created food crisis</b>
...
it would do to revisit some of the statements made by Indian politicians in the past few weeks. Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, too, has ascribed food inflation to India's recent economic boom, pointing out more families are eating at least one full meal a day and families that hitherto ate one meal are now eating two. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has blamed wheat prices on changing dietary habits in the country, claiming that "south Indians eat more wheat now". <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Question to be asked to these ministers is whether people started increasing consumption only during last few months?
<!--QuoteBegin-Capt M Kumar+May 3 2008, 04:41 AM-->QUOTE(Capt M Kumar @ May 3 2008, 04:41 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--emo&:argue--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/argue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='argue.gif' /><!--endemo--> Bush blames India for rising food prices
Prosperity in countries like India is "good" but it triggers increased demand for "better nutrition" which in turn leads to higher food prices, Bush said.
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Bush and economics!! Who would have thought.
No surprise that there's not a peep on the ethanol-oil subsidies which has benefited his oil buddies.
With all this oil screaming, something interesting change I saw this time traveling between San Diego and San Francisco, lot of old oil wells are active again and on full force. I believe mini oil refinery or collection center also popped up. So now California farmers are growing crops on top and churning out oil from bottom. That is called Gold state and cashing every bit of earth. They are also laying big water lines, which will reach to arid patches in between. Good for rice crop. They had slogan all over new water line, forgotten exact but it was something like âWater brings foodâ
<b>After the Oil Crisis, a Food Crisis? </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->What's more, worldwide food reserves are at their lowest in 35 years, so prices are likely to stay high for the foreseeable future. "Past shocks have quickly dissipated, but that's not likely to be the case this time," says Ghurkan.<b> "Supply and demand have become unbalanced, and... can't be fixed quickly." </b>
The world's food import bill will rise in 2007 to $745 billion, up 21% from last year, the FAO estimated in its biannual Food Outlook. In developing countries, costs will go up by a quarter to nearly $233 billion. <b>The FAO says the price increases are a result of record oil prices, farmers switching out of cereals to grow biofuel crops, extreme weather and growing demand from countries like India and China.</b> The year 2008 will likely offer no relief. "The situation could deteriorate further in the coming months," the FAO report cautioned, "leading to a reduction in imports and consumption in many low-income food-deficit countries."
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-Poor harvests resulting from extreme weather
-A rise in demand in some rice-importing countries, where populations and incomes are growing
-The expectation of further price increases - resulting in hoarding
-Low stockpiles and a long term lack of agricultural investment
<img src='http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44540000/gif/_44540176_rice_price_gr226.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<!--QuoteBegin-ashyam+May 6 2008, 08:52 AM-->QUOTE(ashyam @ May 6 2008, 08:52 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Third graph above shows that India cosumes less than what it produces. Second graph says India receives 8% rice aid. Is it psy-ops?
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It is true, lot of agency send rice to India, they call it Aid , but it is low priced rice or political barter.
India sell best quality rice to world in much cheaper price.
<b>Hunger stalks globe as aid groups forced to cut</b>
CRS has already cut the tonnage of food it sends to Haiti by 12 percent. It's also scaling down a food aid program in India far faster than it had planned, and will feed 100,000 fewer people next year than was planned.
<b>India introduces rice export ban </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Indian government has banned the export of non-basmati rice to try and control soaring domestic food costs.
The decision, one of a series of measures to curb inflation, was taken during an emergency cabinet meeting.
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<b>Africaâs food aid request puts India in bind</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New Delhi: Putting the Indian government in a diplomatic bind at a time when risingdomestic food prices are causing political problems, several countries from west and central Africa, as well as Sri Lanka, have appealed for humanitarian food assistance that potentially adds up to some 1 million tonnes (mt) of foodgrains.
Two government officials, who were familiar with the developments but did notwish to be identified, confirmed that requests from these countries had been received by the Prime Ministerâs Office, the commerce ministry and the ministry of external affairs.
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Initial estimates made by the committee suggest that<b> if India were to cater to all the requests, it would need to set aside around 1mt of rice. As on 6 April, India has 13.5mt of rice stored with the Food Corp. of India and state warehouses</b>.
Due to a global shortage, international food prices have risen by 83% in the last three years and several countries, including India, have restricted exports of foograins.
Meanwhile, the Indian government has been battling inflationary pressures, largely on account of rising food prices. It has so far initiated several steps, including tariff reductions, to improve domestic supplies.
Historically, India has shared friendly relations with the African countries.
In April, for instance, India announced a duty-free, quota-free imports regime, from the developing countries of the world, 34 of which are in Africa.<b> The move was aimed at building better relations with nations in a continent where China has stolen a march for natural resources.</b>
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This is from Chini paper but article is written by Indian - <b>Indian state faces famine after plague of rats eats rice </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->SATEEK, India -- About a million people in India's northeastern state of Mizoram are facing famine after a plague of rats ate the region's entire paddy crop, officials and aid agencies said on Monday.
Hordes of rats have swept through the forests of Mizoram, home to just under a million tribespeople, feasting on the fruits of wild bamboo, which flowers every 48 years.
