Food policy for food management: From excess to export ban

The procurement of foodgrains is open ended and the problem of plenty has caused huge fiscal deficit to the country. While the distress caused by covid 19 pandemic and global supply shock enabled the country to unload the foodgrain mountain, the same cannot always happen. Infact, the domestic competitive prices of wheat and rice, pressurized the government to impose export bans. A dynamic strategy is required to maintain food and nutrition security. Merely increasing MSP of crops cannot put the house in order. In states like Punjab, the yield of rice and wheat is far higher than that of other crops, thus increasing the net returns of farmers and serving as a disincentive for diversification of cropping pattern. This monoculture of rice-wheat cycle is causing soil degradation, water salinity and depleting water tables. The answer thus lies in promoting technology for other crops such as pulses and oilseeds, for which the demand is increasing and the country lacks self sufficiency. Hence price policy coupled with technology and investment in R&D, can help the country to traverse the path of food and nutrition security.