Is India facing food shortage again?
Yes. There’s also competition from China. China has become big producer of agricultural materials, food industry and also very big producer of processed food. Why should China’s entry into food production affect Indian farmers? Dr Swaminathan and [the late] C Subramaniam were the founders and promoters of India’s Green Revolution. Now the government of India seems to be neglecting agriculture and promoting information-technology, and money that IT is contributing to the Indian economy is being spent on armaments. If they spend a fraction of what they are spending on armaments on improving the lot of poor rural farmers, everybody would be much better off. Are you saying the Indian government lacks sensitivity about the plight of the small farmers? I believe it is so. They should be reminded that 70 percent of Indians live in rural communities. These people from rural areas who decide to move to urban areas only create trouble for themselves and for the environment. They move into slums
