Food inflation falls marginally

Snapping its continuous rise for the last four weeks,food inflation fell marginally by 41 basis points for the week ending February 13 and stood at 17.58 per cent....

Snapping its continuous rise for the last four weeks,food inflation fell marginally by 41 basis points for the week ending February 13 and stood at 17.58 per cent. The minimal change in inflation rate is primarily due to the dip in prices of pulses and vegetables during the week. Food inflation stood at 17.97 per cent in the previous week.

During the week,prices of tea eased by 3 per cent; masur,gram,fruits and vegetables became cheaper by 2 per cent each; and prices of arhar,moong and barley fell by 1 per cent each.

The overall inflation for January,on the other hand,is hovering at 8.56 per cent and has already breached the Reserve Banks estimates.

The Economic Survey released today warned that the overall prices would go up further in months to come and partially blamed poor food management policies for the double-digit food inflation.

Falling farm production,that wreaked havoc in the year gone by as the shortfall in essential commodities supply led to high double-digit food inflation,has once again become a major point of debate as to whether industrialisation at the cost of agriculture was the right policy.

We need to address the challenges of the agriculture sector through comprehensive and coordinated efforts. Renewed attention needs to be paid to improving farm production and productivity,better utilisation of agri inputs,proper marketing infrastructure and support,stepping up investment in agriculture with due emphasis on environmental concerns and efficient food management, the Survey said.

The industrial sector that witnessed major slowdown beginning 2007-08 due to global crisis,has started recovering and impact of steps taken by the government was evident with the Index of Industrial Production registering a growth of over 16 per cent in December 2009.