India did not experience any food price spikes during 2007-08 when global food prices erupted. It was partly due to India's ban on exports of wheat and common rice. But the fiscal stimulus that the government provided in 2009 in the wake of G8 countries' call to avert economic recession, coupled with one of the worst droughts India experienced in that year, led to rising food prices in India since mid-2009. Food price inflation has hovered between 8-12 per cent per annum since then. The nature of food inflation, however, changed from being cereals-led to high value products (fruits and vegetables, and protein foods) during 2010-11 and 2011-12. While food inflation invited severe political protests, the situation did not escalate to any riots or violence. The government has been trying hard to cool down food prices by reining-in fiscal deficit, tightening monetary policy, releasing more grains from public stocks, and distributing subsidized grains through the public distribution system to targeted population. Yet it has not quite succeeded in containing an uncomfortably high level of food inflation.This is a cause for concern given that India continues to face food security challenges given the large number of people living below the poverty line and a significant part of them being susceptible to food price shocks.
Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Evaluating Agricultural Value Chains on CISS-F Framework -- Chapter 3: Decoding Value Chains of Tomatoes, Onions and Potatoes (TOP) -- Chapter 4: Towards an Efficient Banana and Mango Value Chains in India -- Chapter 5: Analysis of Grapes and Pomegranates Value Chain -- Chapter 6: Towards Creation of an Efficient Dairy Value Chain -- Chapter 7: Poultry Value Chain in India -- Chapter 8: Pulses in India: A Value Chain Analysis -- Chapter 9: Developing Agricultural Value Chains in India- the Way Forward.
Scindia, J.M.: India engages the world : the view from New Dehli. - S. 12-16 Gupta, A.K.: India in 2025 : what kind of a superpower? - S- 20-23 Twining, D.: Not a Chinese century, an Indo-American one. - S. 24-29 Kumar, R.: International role and respect? : Not without economic prosperity. - S. 30-35 Vanamali, A.: Climate strategy is critical for India's future. - S. 36-40 Gulati, A.; Ganguly, K.: Feeding India : vast challenges, vast opportunities. - S. 42-45
The a griculture and food sector in India employ a significant proportion (about 44 percent) of the workforce, the majority of whom are not very educated and lack formal or informal skill training. Hence, they are unable to make the most out of their occupation. About 67 percent of the population in India is aged 15-64 years while 27 percent is aged 0-14 years (UNFPA n.d.). This offers both a challenge and an opportunity to skill the youth as well as the existing workforce in India with the objective to improve their productivity and enhance their incomes. This paper is a scoping study of policies and institutions that are operational in this context of skill formation in India, with a focus on the agriculture and food sector. It takes stock of ongoing initiatives and programs, their design and scope in achieving skill development in general and related to the agriculture and food sector in particular. In terms of policy, skill development has been accorded high priority with an objective to make the programs aspirational for youth as well as for them to recognize the value of experience and knowledge. The focus is laid on quality of training, assessment, and certification thus ensuring standards and greater market acceptability. These are prerequisites for investments in skills to bring higher returns in terms of remunerative jobs. The government has been a catalyst of change in this area in terms of designing, implementing and financing of such programs. The role of private players including both potential employers as well as global partners (government, business and non-governmental organizations) has been widely recognized in upgrading the scope, target and outcomes as well as ensuring sustainability of the national skill development program. As technology plays a very important role in sustainable value chains, it creates demand for a better skilled workforce, and accordingly rewards them with better paid jobs and higher returns in farming. Hence designing appropriate qualification packs and training ...
The agriculture and food sector in India employ a significant proportion (about 44 percent) of the workforce, the majority of whom are not very educated and lack formal or informal skill training. Hence, they are unable to make the most out of their occupation. About 67 percent of the population in India is aged 15-64 years while 27 percent is aged 0-14 years (UNFPA n.d.). This offers both a challenge and an opportunity to skill the youth as well as the existing workforce in India with the objective to improve their productivity and enhance their incomes. This paper is a scoping study of policies and institutions that are operational in this context of skill formation in India, with a focus on the agriculture and food sector. It takes stock of ongoing initiatives and programs, their design and scope in achieving skill development in general and related to the agriculture and food sector in particular. In terms of policy, skill development has been accorded high priority with an objective to make the programs aspirational for youth as well as for them to recognize the value of experience and knowledge. The focus is laid on quality of training, assessment, and certification thus ensuring standards and greater market acceptability. These are prerequisites for investments in skills to bring higher returns in terms of remunerative jobs. The government has been a catalyst of change in this area in terms of designing, implementing and financing of such programs. The role of private players including both potential employers as well as global partners (government, business and nongovernmental organizations) has been widely recognized in upgrading the scope, target and outcomes as well as ensuring sustainability of the national skill development program. As technology plays a very important role in sustainable value chains, it creates demand for a better skilled workforce, and accordingly rewards them with better paid jobs and higher returns in farming. Hence designing appropriate qualification packs and training programs with a focus on innovations all along the value chains (that help promote technology adoption, facilitate effective value chain management, etc.) are critical. Also, innovative models of outreach (for example, classroom training for agricultural professionals, agricultural entrepreneurs, farmer field schools, and e-platforms) can add substantial value to skills at very low cost. Hence, scaling up fast is necessary to benefit the agriculture and food sector in India. While this paper gives an overview of the landscape of various programs and projects, and how they are being implemented by various actors (government, domestic private sector and international agencies), there is dire need to evaluate their outcomes in terms of increased incomes and more stable jobs of those trained through these programs.
Innovations in agriculture hold the key to unlocking sustainable, inclusive growth potential while securing employment opportunities for young people. In India, this has given rise to a new generation of entrepreneurs and startups that have increased agricultural productivity and producer income. Key developments in Indian agriculture have been in areas such as digital innovations for pre and post-harvest management, efficient energy sources, biotechnology and the 'uberization' of farm mechanization. These innovations have opened up new avenues of engagement with the sector and created job opportunities for technology developers, entrepreneurs and agribusiness specialists. India's success in launching these innovations in smallholder agriculture has potential for replication in other developing nations, including smallholder economies of Africa, through partnerships for cooperation and knowledge transfer
