Price in that production

The average retail price of rice—the major staple of the country—has gone up by 77% from 2000 to 2010. In contrast,production went up from 84.98 mn tonnes in 2000 to 89.13 mn tonnes—just 4.8% in the last decade. This is despite the fact that yield went up from 1,901 kg/hectare in 2000-01 to 2,130 kg/hectare in 2009-10.

A similar trend is seen in wheat,where production went up from 69.68 mn tonnes in 2000-01 to 80.71 mn tonnes in 2009-10,while the yield moved up from 2,708 kg/hectare in 2000 to 2,830 kg/hectare in 2009. And the area under cultivation rose from 25.73 mn hectares to 28.52 mn hectares during the same period. In contrast,according to data from the ministry of consumer affairs,food and public distribution,the retail price of wheat in Delhi went up by 90%,from Rs 7.46 per kg in 2000 to 14.15 per kg in 2010. The price rise is higher in other metros that the department tracks.

Retail prices of sugar in Delhi have doubled in the last decade. The production of sugar has been growing in fits and spurts (18.49 mn tonnes in 2000,25.75 mn tonnes in 2006 and 24.5 mn tonnes in 2010). And the yield of sugarcane went up from 295.96 kg/hectare in 2000-01 to 324.91 kg/hectare in 2009-10 while the area under cultivation remained stagnant at 4.5 million hectares in the last decade.

The biggest rise in prices was seen in vegetables,as onion prices went up by three times and those of potato doubled in the last decade. All-India production for onions shows a steady rise from 4.55 mn tonnes in 2000-01 to 13.56 mn tonnes while the yield of the crop has grown from 10,786 kg/hectare in 2000-01 to 16,260 kg/hectare in 2008-09,defying all logic for the whopping rise in onion prices. Production of potato—the poor man’s carbohydrate—has gone up from 22.49 mn tonnes in 2000-01 to 34.39 mn tonnes in the last decade while the area under cultivation inched up from 1.22 mn hectares in 2000-01 to 1.88 mn hectares in 2008-09.

Even the prices of poor man’s protein—pulses—have not seen any respite. Retail price of Tur (arhar) dal—the most consumed pulses in the country—has gone up by 152% in Delhi in the last decade and even more in other metros,while production remained stagnant between 2.25 mn tonnes and 2.55 mn tonnes during the decade. Although the demand for pulses is around 18 mn tonnes every year,the supply has remained stagnant at around 15 mn tonnes; the shortfall being met by imports. Daily per capita availability of pulses has dropped from 60.7 gm in 1951 to 37 gm in 2009,indicating that consistently poor availability and higher prices of pulses will eventually change the pattern of consumption of Indians,unless policy action is taken to contain this declining trend.

In sharp contrast,prices of certain consumer durables that were once considered aspirational have seen a sharp decline in the last decade. For example,average annual price of a 21-inch colour TV has gone down by half and average sales have moved up from 5.1 million units to 9.3 million units. Similarly,price of Maruti Alto,an industry representation of a small car,has dropped by around 25% and sales have moved up 800% in the last one decade. An internal analysis by Maruti Suzuki shows that while in 2005 a Maruti Alto used to cost 96 months of per capita income,this figure declined to 51 months in 2010. Prices of consumer durables have declined because of competition and consumers today have a large product pool to select from,as a result of global investments. There is an imminent need to put in place superior technological innovation to improve farm productivity.

—saikat.neogi@expressindia.com