)
After announcing a slew of measures to tame inflation in cereals, fruits and vegetables, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took stock of the demand-supply gap in protein-rich food items such as milk, egg and fish and the availability of fertilisers.
The briefing was important in view of the steady increase in prices of milk, eggs, meat and fish in May 2014, as compared to April 2014. Data showed that in May milk prices rose by 9.57 per cent as compared to 9.19 in April, while that of eggs, meat and fish rose by 12.47 per cent as compared to 9.97 per cent in April.
Officials said the prime minister was briefed about the current availability of protein-rich items and steps to increase supplies by officials of the department of animal husbandry and dairying.
The meeting was attended by, among others, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh. However, only the animal husbandry and fertilisers departments could make presentations and rest will be done later.
Officials said the department of animal husbandry and dairying, in its presentation, said there was a supply-demand gap in some animal protein foods and stressed the need to promote artificial insemination and other technologies to boost animal yields.
The shortage of fodder and steps needed to improve the distribution of seeds for fodder cultivation were also discussed. The government announced a host of measures on Tuesday to tame inflation, which soared to a five-month high of 6.01 per cent in May.
The Centre asked states to crack down on hoarders and de-list fruits and vegetables from the Agricultural Produce Market Committee list, allowing farmers to sell their produce directly in the open market.
The government also imposed a minimum export price of $300 a tonne on onions to curb their exports and decided to release an additional 50,00,000 tonnes of rice to states for sale in the open market.
