The government is closely monitoring the prices as well as the demand-supply situation of all essential food items, Union minister of state for agriculture Kailash Choudhary said on Tuesday.
“The government is monitoring the prices and availability of food items. It takes measures to boost domestic availability and keep prices under check,” Choudhary said in reply to a question on food inflation and the export ban on non-basmati white rice.
He was speaking at an event to launch ITC’s postal stamp on millets in collaboration with India Post. While asserting that the government is committed to balancing the interest of both consumers and farmers, he said a panel has been formed to regularly monitor prices and availability.
Based on the demand-supply situation and retail price, he said the government decides on imposing export duty or putting restrictions on exports.
The minister said there is no problem on the supply front of food items in the country.
“The government looks at the interest of both consumers as well as farmers and tries to strike a balance,” he said.
According to the data released by the National Statistical Office, the inflation in the food basket was at 4.49 per cent in June, higher than 2.96 per cent in May. The food basket accounts for nearly half of the Consumer Price Index.
No fear
The Centre remains unfazed by the spike in vegetable prices, especially tomato prices.
In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, agriculture minister Narendra Tomar said: “The country does not have a supply deficit in the case of vegetable crops. The occasional price fluctuations are mainly due to supply disruptions caused by unseasonal rains, heatwaves, etc.”
He added that in the case of vegetable crops, including onion, tomato, brinjal, cauliflower, cabbage, potato, green chilli, India is a net exporter to the world. He buttressed his statement with advanced production estimates of key vegetables for 2022-23. Tomato production is expected to fall by just 0.35 per cent to 206.21 lakh tonnes this year (advance estimate) versus 206.94 lakh tonnes last year.
Top producers of tomatoes this year are MP (27.62 lakh tonnes), Karnataka (25.91 lakh tonnes), and Andhra (23.37 lakh tonnes). Production in Bengal is estimated to touch 12.59 lakh tonnes — the same as last year.
