India Needs Climate-Resilient Crops for Food Security

New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) India needs to develop climate-resilient crop varieties and enhance yields to increase the production of pulses, oilseeds, tomatoes and onion to ensure long-term price stability, the Economic Survey 2024-25 on Friday said amid persisting concerns over food inflation.

The survey, tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday in Parliament, emphasised that India's food inflation rate has remained firm, driven by a few food items like vegetables and pulses.

The contribution of vegetables and pulses to the overall inflation stood at 32.3 per cent in 2024-25 (April to December).

When these items are excluded, the average food inflation rate for FY25 (April-December) was 4.3 per cent, which is 4.1 per cent lower than the overall food inflation, the survey said.

It also underlined that extreme weather conditions -- such as cyclones, heavy rains, floods, thunderstorms, hailstorms, and droughts -- impact vegetable production and prices.

These adverse weather conditions also present significant challenges to storage and transportation, resulting in temporary disruptions to the supply chain and causing an increase in vegetable prices, it added.

The pre-budget document further said the price pressures in tomatoes remained intermittently high since fiscal 2022-23 due to constrained supply.

Despite earnest efforts by the government, tomato prices remained high due to its highly perishable nature and production concentrated in few states, it added.

"To increase the production of pulses, oilseeds, tomato and onion, focused research is needed to develop climate-resilient crop varieties, enhancing yield and reducing crop damage," the survey suggested.

Farmers should receive training on best practices, the use of high-yield and disease-resistant seed varieties, and targeted interventions to improve agricultural practices in the major growing regions for pulses, tomatoes, and onions, it noted.

The survey also called for implementing robust data collection and analysis systems to monitor prices, stocks, and storage and processing facilities is essential in various tiers of government.

"This data should be used to identify areas for improvement and make informed policy decisions. High-frequency price monitoring data for essential food items collected by various agencies within the country may be linked to quantify and monitor price build-up at each stage from the farm gate to the final consumer," it said.

Despite challenges, the RBI and the IMF project that India's consumer price inflation will progressively align towards the inflation target of around 4 per cent in fiscal 2025-26.

The RBI expects headline inflation to be 4.2 per cent in FY26. IMF has projected an inflation rate of 4.4 per cent in FY25 and 4.1 per cent in 2025-26 for India.