In what could come as a piece of good news, hunger in India - as measured by the Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) - has come down from 16.6 per cent of the population in the 2020-2022 to 13.7 per cent in 2021-23, the latest report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2024) showed. This means that around 39.3 million people have come out of undernourishment between the two periods, NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said on Tuesday.
Between 2001 and 2022, it said, forests in India emitted 51 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year and removed 141 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year. This represents a net carbon sink of 89.9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has collaborated with Grammy Award-winning Indian-American singer Falu for a special song to promote the benefits of millets and their potential to alleviate world hunger.
In the coming months, globally as well as in India, rice might remain a hot potato.
African swine fever has been reported from two farms at Mananthavady in Kerala's Wayanad district, officials said on Friday.
As the kharif season is setting in, India is scrambling to source fertilisers from the international market. It is set to sign long-term contracts - especially with Morocco and Latin American countries - to ensure steady flow of supplies. "We have to source fertilisers wherever it is available because crops have to be secured.
Inflation has reappeared as a global issue in both advanced and emerging economies and India needs to be wary of "imported inflation", especially due to high oil prices, according to the Economic Survey 2021-22 released on Monday. "Inflation has reappeared as a global issue in both advanced and emerging economies. "India's Consumer Price Index inflation stood at 5.6 per cent YoY in December 2021 which is within the targeted tolerance band," the survey report presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman noted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the government will soon take a decision on revising the minimum age of marriage for girls after it receives the report from the committee set up for the purpose.
Reacting sharply to the Global Hunger Report 2021, the Women and Child Development Ministry said it is 'shocking' to find that it has lowered the rank of India on the basis of FAO estimate on proportion of undernourished population which is found to be 'devoid of ground reality and facts, and suffers from serious methodological issues'.
The maximum fall was witnessed in dairy prices.
India is among 120 countries which backed the draft resolution put forward by the European Union and several other countries.
'Never believed that we humans have the capability at this time to create such a virus'
The FAO's food index of 55 items averaged at 209.3 points in April this year, down by 1.6 per cent from March and 3.5 per cent below April 2013.
UN report shows holes in govt's food security proposal.
Senior officials, including those from a central team, were present during the night-long operation and a close vigil is being maintained on further movement of locusts, Katiyar said. Two fire brigade vehicles loaded with insecticide had been deployed in all four Jhansi tehsils besides six vehicles were kept ready at the district headquarter. Ten municipal employees with two insecticide spraying machines were posted in every block.
Global food prices rose by 1 per cent in March as compared to the previous month, driven mainly by an 11 per cent increase in dairy products.
The global body on the farm sector has pegged India's rice production to be lower at 100 million tonnes in the 2012-13 crop year (July-June) from record high of 104.32 million tonnes in 2011-12 crop year.
UN body Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has revised upwards India's rice production to 100 million tonnes (MT) in the 2012-13 crop year on the back of revival of rains in August and September.
Lower global prices and freights, together with less cereal purchases are predicted to reduce global expenditure on imported foodstuffs in 2012, the bi-annual global market report added.
A whopping $700 million (about Rs 3,700 crore) is paid annually as bribe in India for land administration services, a joint study by United Nation's body FAO and Transparency International has observed.
Global food prices rebounded in January this year demonstrating the volatility in the international food markets, after falling for six months since July, 2011, United Nation's body FAO said on Friday.
One of the reasons why food prices are increasing all across the world is the shortfall in agricultural output.
The global agricultural production growth is expected to be low at 1.7 per cent annually during 2011-20 as compared to 2.6 per cent in the previous decade, due to lower growth in oilseeds and cereals, an agri survey said.
Consumers are unlikely to get relief from high food prices till December 2012, despite a modest increase in global foodgrain production.
Global rice production is expected to touch 476 million tonnes in 2011, on the back of improved weather conditions, as the influence of La Nina is expected to neutralise by June, United Nation's body FAO said.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, global food prices fell for the first time after eighth consecutive months of price spikes in March this year in the wake of a decline in international prices of oil, sugar and cereals.
In the latest edition of its 'Food Outlook' report, the UN agency asked the world community to be prepared for harder times ahead unless production of major food crops increases significantly in 2011.
The Indian states figure in the list for East Asia countries. The names are there in annexure five of the 2010 FAO report to assess greenhouse gas emissions from the dairy sector. Arunachal Pradesh has been spelt as 'Arunashal' Pradesh in the list which also shows Aksai Chin as a separate country. China holds Aksai Chin as its integral part while India says it is part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir
The locusts initially entered Rajasthan from Pakistan and from there the swarms moved towards Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab over the last few weeks and are now threatening to enter Uttar Pradesh, putting at risk the summer crop.
Decline in planting of cereals across the world may lead to volatile food prices next year, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of United Nations has said in its latest report.
The joint report by UN Economic Commission for Europe and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation released on Tuesday said that consumption, production and trade of forest products reached record highs in 2006, with a slight downturn registered in 2007. That decline accelerated in 2008, marking the sharpest drop since the first oil shock of 1973, and continued into the first half of this year, it said.
Bulk of the starving population belong to the developing world, with Asia and the Pacific region estimated to have about 642 million hungry people in 2009, Sub-Saharan Africa 265 million, Latin America and the Caribbean 53 million while the Near East and North Africa 42 million, the report said.
He noted that the current crisis was triggered by a confluence of factors including increased use of biofuels, surging demand for agri products due to population and economic growth in emerging markets and inadequate supply of cereals -- which is at its lowest levels in three decades. Further aggravating these problems are restrictive protectionist measures taken by some exporting nations, speculation on futures markets and high prices of agricultural inputs, he added.
Increased investment in forestry could provide jobs in areas such as forest management and agro-forestry, improved management of forest fires, development and management of tracking trails and recreation sites in forests, expansion of urban green spaces, restoration of degraded forests and planting new ones. Such activities could be tailored to local circumstances like the availability of labour, skill levels among population and social, economic and ecological conditions.
The latest estimates of global hunger, released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), have projected the number of people going hungry every day to swell to the historic high of 1.02 billion in 2009. Almost all of them, barring a small fraction, will be in the developing countries.
The global food production must shoot up by 70 per cent to be able to feed an additional 2.3 billion people by 2050, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Wednesday.
Even as the prices of food items in the international market dropped sharply from their peak in 2008 in response to higher global stocks and improved export supplies, food prices in most of the developing countries have defied this trend and remain high.
The United Nations has asked the international community to invest more in surveillance and control measures to check animal diseases. It also said the increased mobility of viruses and their carriers across countries is emerging as a new global threat.
The first Global Agro-Industries Forum will be organised in New Delhi from 8 to 11 April 2008.
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