Diversion of Agriculture Land and Impact on Food Security1

Bhaskar Goswami

Land differs from other elements of production, labour and capital in not being
susceptible to infinite increase. Its extent is limited and the extent of the more productive
kinds of it more limited still. It is also evident that the quantity of produce capable of
being raised on any given piece of land is not indefinite. This limited quantity of land,
and limited productiveness of it, are the real limits to the increase of production.

John Stuart Mill2

Mill wrote these words 160 years ago and they ring true for India today. With the
pressure of billion-plus mouths to feed, and returns on agricultural inputs declining, it
would seem prudent to protect the area under agriculture, if not bring more area under
cultivation. However, what we are witnessing is the reverse. Faced with competing
demands for land from the non-agriculture sector and rapid urbanization, large chunks of
prime agriculture land are being diverted for non-agricultural purposes. This has serious
implications for food security.

The issue of land acquisition for setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZ) has pivoted
loss of agriculture land to a national issue. Addressing the National Development
Council meeting on 23rd December 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, “I agree
that we must minimise the diversion of agricultural land and given the choice, must opt
for using wasteland for non-agricultural purposes. However, it must be kept in mind that
industrialisation is a national necessity if we have to reduce the pressure on agriculture
and provide gainful, productive employment to millions of our youth who see no future
in agriculture.”

It is obvious that the Prime Minister’s statement is meant to assuage the violent
opposition to deprivation and displacement unleashed by land acquisition, rather than
generating employment in off-farm activities for the rural youth. If it were not so, the
government would have also come out with a figure on what should be the threshold
level for this diversion so that agriculture land is protected. In fact, the government itself
does not know how much agriculture land has been diverted till date as has been made
clear by the Planning Commission’s July 2006 report of the Working Group on Land
Relations for the11th Five Year Plan3.

The reason for this “unawareness” is not difficult to figure out: both the government and
private sector have partnered in appropriating agriculture land to promote

1
Date: February 2008
2
Mill, J.S. (1848) The Principles of Political Economy. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
3
Government of India (2006) Report of the Working Group on Land Relations for Formulation of 11th
Five Year Plan. Planning Commission, Government of India. July 31, 2006 p117
industrialisation, real estate, infrastructure, highways, dams etc. All this purportedly to
benefit the “public”, which somehow does not include people engaged in agriculture.

Subversion of almost all sectors of agriculture has left farmers a vulnerable lot, many of
whom now want to quit cultivation. Spiraling input costs, depressed prices, a rapid
erosion of the natural resource base, and removal of vital safety nets has rendered
farming unprofitable and driven thousands to commit suicide. It is this group of citizens
that the state and the private sector are preying upon to steal their most valued asset –
agriculture land. The laws of land are being changed to make it easier to grab croplands.

Do numbers matter?

Are SEZs the only or principal reason for diversion of farm land for non-farm uses?
Available figures indicate that large-scale diversion of agriculture land has being going
on for more than a decade. At present, a little over 46 percent of the country’s area is
cultivated4. As per the Ministry of Agriculture, between 1990 and 2003 the net sown area
went down by around 1.5 percent. While in percentage terms this may seem
insignificant, in absolute terms it translates to more than 21 lakh hectares5. On the other
hand, between 1990 and 2004, land under non-agricultural uses has gone up by 34 lakh
hectares6.

This extensive diversion of farm land has been brought about by relaxing land acquisition
and ceiling regulations by various states post 1991 and has resulted in the State itself
turning into one of the largest real estate broker and developer in the country. All that the
Centre did to protect agriculture land was to issue the National Land Use Policy
Outline to States and Union Territories in 1986. Instead of full
implementation, the State-level Land Use Boards have redefined their
roles to that of coercing farmers to give up farm land.

All across the country, agriculture land is shrinking. As per official figures, Tamil Nadu
has lost more than 10 lakh hectares of agriculture land between 1991 and 2003. Mineral-
rich Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh are losing agricultural land to mining and power
projects. In Kerala, the area under agriculture is around 3.5 lakh hectares as against 10
lakh hectares in 1980. Between 1997-98 and 2001-02, over 80,000 hectares of land
under paddy were diverted for non-agricultural uses. As a result, the demand for rice is
about five times higher than what is produced by the state. Even in the case of a small
state like Himachal Pradesh, the net sown area has declined by 33,000 hectares between
1991 and 20017 while in Jammu and Kashmir over 35,000 hectares of farm and orchard
land have been occupied to set up camps by security forces8.

4
Government of India (2007) Agriculture Statistics at a Glance 2006-2007. Ministry of Agriculture,
Government of India.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
7
Land use Statistics of respective State Governments
8
Gautam Navlakha (2008) Resentment Persists in Kashmir. Economic and Political Weekly February 9,
2008 13p
At a seminar on land use planning held at National Centre for Agricultural Economics
and Policy Research, New Delhi in 1997, Sulabha Brahme stated: “The Maharashtra
Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has so far acquired 35,000 hectares of land
over 200 locations… it has planned land acquisition for 120 industrial areas/ estates
covering 30,000 hectares of land... nine large industrial townships with size ranging from
2,000 to 7,000 hectares are planned… MIDC is also planning deluxe industrial estates
for attracting NRIs and foreign companies… land is being acquired by the Government
for private hotel industry and tourism development.”9 No wonder the MIDC website
proudly proclaims that by 2002 it possessed more than 52,000 hectares of land with plans
to acquire 35,000 hectares more10.

In the neighbouring state, MIDC’s counterpart -- The Andhra Pradesh Industrial

Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) -- expanded its ownership from 14,000 hectares in
2005 to 34,000 hectares in mid 200611. In November 2007, Tamil Nadu released the new
industrial policy and announced that it will develop a land bank of 4,000 hectares to
promote industrial development in the state12.

This hunger for agricultural land continues unabated. Between 2002 and 2007, about
90,000 hectares of agriculture land across 25 mandals in and around Hyderabad has been
diverted for real estate and mega-projects. Another 63,000 hectares across 20 mandals of
Ranga Reddy district has been lost in the last 10 years. In fact, conservative estimates
point out that a mind-boggling five lakh hectares of agriculture land has been lost in
Andhra Pradesh in recent years.13

While the Prime Minister was at least trying to appear not to advocate poaching on
agricultural land, some states governments have not bothered with such niceties. Take
the case of Chattisgarh where 80 percent of the population depends on agriculture. The
state government’s Vision 2010 document, which borrowed heavily from an earlier
advice of the Price Waterhouse-Coopers, states: “The existing rules prevent the diversion
of agricultural land for industrial use. The State would simplify the procedures of
diverting land from agricultural to industrial use”. To achieve this, the State proposes
that agriculture should be left to 30 percent of farmers who presently control 70 percent
of agriculture land!14

While farmers protest against the forcible acquisition of their lands, the land grab in the
name of promoting industrialization continues. The Rajasthan government’s biggest
power plant coming up in Bhadres village of Barmer district will gobble up around 8,000
hectares of agriculture land. Sixty thousand farmers will be displaced and livelihoods of

9
Sulabha Brahme (1997) Critical Issues in Land use Planning in India. Paper presented at Seminar on Land
Use Planning at NCAP, 28th & 29th November, 1997. NCAP, New Delhi
10
http://www.midcindia.org
11
http://www.apiicltd.com
12
The Hindu (2007) “New Industrial Policy Hailed”. The Hindu 11 Nov., 2007
13
Reddy, V.R. and Suresh Reddy (2007) Land Alienation and Local Communities: case studies in
Hyderabad-Secunderabad. Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 42 No. 31 August 04-August 10, 2007
p3234
14
Government of Chhattisgarh (2001) Chhatisgarh Vision 2010: Unlocking natural wealth.
250,000 people who depend on livestock will be threatened15. In Chhattisgarh, the Tata
Steel’s proposed steel plant in Lohandiguda village of Bastar district will involve
acquisition of 2,044 hectares of agriculture land16. In Punjab, over 900 hectares of prime
agriculture land is being forcibly acquired in Mansa district to set up a thermal power
plant.17

Not just industrialization, agriculture land is also being gobbled up in the name of
infrastructure development at an unprecedented rate. In some cases, the scale may be
smaller, as in the case of the World Bank funded Allahabad bypass project which led to
acquisition of 781 hectares of prime crop land18. Or, it may be huge as in the case of the
Ganga Expressway project in Uttar Pradesh, which is expected to acquire 63,110
hectares. The Gangetic Plains arguably has the most fertile land in the country and 70
percent of the land earmarked for the project is agriculture land, owned by cultivated by
farmers19.

The National Highway Development Programme Phase V plans to widen 6,500

kilometers of existing four-lanes to six-lane highways20. Across the countryside, about
1,46,000 km of new roads are planned and a dedicated programme, the Pradhan Mantri
Gramin Sadak Yojana, is ongoing since 2001-0221. The Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs meeting on January 10, 2007 has called for amendment of land acquisition laws
to enable speedy acquisition of agriculture land for Rs. 5,000 crore worth railway
expansion projects.

There is more. To sustain the 18 percent growth of the civil aviation sector, the
government is planning to re-develop 45 big and small airports around the country.
Foreign equity up to 100 percent has been permitted through automatic approvals for
Greenfield airports22. The Ministry feels that as many as 100 new and existing airports
can be built or upgraded in the next five years and several state governments have already
submitted proposals for the same23. The recently cleared Greater NOIDA airport near
New Delhi will involve acquisition of 1,500 hectares of farm land24. Reliance Industries
Limited (RIL) and the Haryana State government have jointly proposed a Greenfield

15
Hindustan Times (2008) “Another Nandigram in Making: Rajasthan villagers say they’ll die before they
give up their land for power project”. Hindustan Times Jan. 23, 2008.
16
Business Line (2008) “Chhattisgarh Plant: Tata Steel expects to complete land acquisition by March”.
Business Line Jan. 20, 2008.
17
The Hindu (2008) “Farmers up in Arms over Proposed Power Plant”. The Hindu Feb. 18, 2008.
18
The World Bank (2003) Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet: Allahabad Bypass Project. The World Bank
April 1, 2003
19
Business Standard (2008) “Ganga expressway hits political hurdle over land acquisition”. Business
Standard Jan. 7, 2008.
20
http://www.nhai.org
21
http://pmgsy.nic.in
22
http://civilaviation.nic.in
23
Hindustan Times (2008) “States Clamour for New Airports in Small Towns”. Hindustan Times Jan. 21,
2008.
24
The Telegraph (2008) “Mayawati Airport Mired in Legal and Central Tangle”. The Telegraph Feb. 5
2008.
international airport cum cargo airport in Jhajjar, near Gurgaon, for which 4,347 hectares
has been earmarked25.

The Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), a special purpose vehicle of

the state government has floated a new company - Maharashtra Multi-Modal
International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) – to develop the Nagpur airport. Under
MIHAN, MADC will acquire a total of 4,354 hectares of agricultural land, of which
1,278 ha will be earmarked for the airport26. If similar demands to build new airports
come up from 20 cities or SEZs, 50,000-80,000 hectares of farmland would disappear.

When the State itself goes about brazenly acquiring agriculture land and violating the
principles of the National Land Use Policy Outline, can the private sector lag
behind? As a “small favour” to the private sector, the area being parceled off for the
projects are way higher that what they actually require. Take the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani
Group’s proposed gas-based power generation project coming up at Dadri, Uttar Pradesh.
The project proposes to generate 3,600 MW of power for which the state government
acquired 903 hectares of prime farm land. Not only were farmers paid 125 times less
than the prevailing market rate, the land acquired is ten times more than what is required
for the project.

Similarly, the Orissa government acquired more than 5,100 hectares of land in
Kalinganagar between 1990 and 1996 to set up an industrial complex. Till date, only 5
units have come up in the area. This is despite 10 units being allotted land for rapid
industrialization in 2004. Instead of either asking industries to set up their units or return
the land to the farmers, the state government has shifted the blame on agitations against
land acquisition and Greenfield projects that hamper industrial development.27

Not content with appropriating land for setting up industries, not-for-profit institutions set
up by industrial houses are also poaching on agriculture land. The Anil Agarwal
Foundation set up by the metals and mining conglomerate, Vedanta, will receive 4,000
hectares of land from the Orissa State government near Puri to set up a University. This
will involve acquiring agriculture land across 18 villages, besides making competing
demands on power and water. The State government has also promised to build a four-
lane highway from Bhubaneswar to the site which will involve acquiring more
agriculture land.28

It is possible that acquiring or buying more agricultural land than what is required is to
fuel real estate speculation. The real estate sector is flourishing at a rate of 35 to 38
percent annually. For the year 2006, seven of the 10 companies that yielded the best
returns for shareholders are in the real estate business or have land banks29. Take the case

25
Hindustan Times (2008) “Haryana Wants an International Airport Too”. Hindustan Times Jan. 8, 2008.
26
Praful Bidwai (2008) Case Against Nagpur Airport Project. Navhind Times Feb. 14, 2008
27
Business Standard (2008) “Land Acquisition Problems Thwart Industrial Growth”. Business Standard
Feb. 3, 2008.
28
Business Standard (2008) “The 10,000-acre road to wisdom”. Business Standard March 4, 2008
29
http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/581/632/
of DLF which has a land bank of over 4,100 hectares30. While some of this land is in
urban areas, majority has been bought in the peri-urban areas from farmers over the last
decade. Another real estate major, UNITECH, controls land in excess of 5,600
hectares31. Financial company Indiabulls owns 3,000 hectares more32. Twelve villages of
Gurgaon district in Haryana have sold every inch of their agriculture land to real estate
developers33.

Industry estimates suggest the Hiranandani group has more than 2,300 hectares across the
country34, while prominent developers in Bangalore together control 800-1,200 hectares35.
The Sahara group owns 7,600 hectares across the country. Of this, 3,200 hectares is held
by the Amby Valley project in Maharashtra36. Emaar-MGF, a foreign-held real estate
company, has disclosed that it controls 4,000 hectares of agriculture land across the
country37.

The Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises, a 75 per cent subsidiary of BF Utilities, is

developing 8,000 hectares of land that it owns along the existing Bangalore-Mysore
highway38. Meanwhile, the Karnataka state government has entrusted Bangalore
Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (BMRDA) with the task of acquiring land
for the construction of five townships around Bangalore in October 2006. This would
involve acquisition of 24,000 hectares of agriculture land39.

The Haryana government has adopted a report submitted by the consultancy firm Scot
Wilson which proposes to set up 14 new townships in its National Capital Region town
stretching from Sonepat in north to the Mewat region in South. Theme-based cities will
come up on these locations and will be connected by a 135 km long expressway
developed on 620 hectares. About 45,000 hectares will be developed by private and
state-run agencies as residential sectors and industrial zones40. Every square yard of the
land is (or was, till recently) farm land.

As in the case with most developmental activities across the country, state agencies are
also acquiring land with a declared objective to benefit the poor! Take the case of the
Nagpur Improvement Trust, which has come up with a “pro-poor” land acquisition plan.
It has proposed to acquire land for free and return 60 percent of it to the owner after
developing it to build houses, though not at the same site. Around a third of the district

30
http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/ipoupcomingissues/kpsinghrajivsingh/landbankisapprox10255
acresdlf/market/stocks/article/283842
31
http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/581/632/
32
http://www.infochangeindia.org/analysis191.jsp
33
Dainik Bhaskar (2008) “SEZ Ke Nishaney Par Kisaan: Mit Jayenge Khet-Khaliyaan”. Gurgaon Bhaskar
Jan. 19, 2008
34
www.hirco.com
35
http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/jun/03spec.htm
36
http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/jun/03spec.htm
37
Business Standard (2007) “Emaar MGF land bank sparks debate on FDI”. Business Standard Nov. 1,
2007
38
http://nicelimited.com/
39
The Hindu (2007) “Farmers Oppose Land Acquisition at Bidadi”. The Hindu Dec. 14, 2007
40
Hindustan Times (2008) “NCR to Get 14 New Townships”. Hindustan Times Jan. 13, 2008.
(which roughly translates to 3.78 lakh hectares) will be brought within the metro region.
Of this, 70 percent is agricultural land41.

Add to all these the two lakh hectares that the Ministry of Commerce intends to develop
as Special Economic Zones and the figure swells.

This brings us back to the crucial question which the government refuses to answer
honestly: how much crop land is being diverted for non-agricultural use? Nobody has an
accurate figure. The above account summarises some of the documented facts and
figures which is a small percentage of the actual diversion of agriculture land that is
taking place on ground. In such a scenario, is it not the responsibility of the government
to make itself fully aware of the scale of diversion and to be clear at what threshold level
does the cost of diversion begins exceeding the economic gains?

This exercise could begin with a few additional questions: how much agriculture land is
being converted to construct houses and shops in the rural areas; how much crop land has
been lost for the 4,600 big dams in the country; how much crop land is being brought
under jatropha; how many million hectares are being diversified from food crops to non-
food cash crops (floriculture alone covers around 1.2 lakh hectares), brick-kilns, stone
crushers, etc. While no reliable estimates are available, going by the developments in
recent years, it is certainly a number of times more than the official figure of 21 lakh
hectares of net sown area lost between 1990 and 2003. Maybe the human element has
been overshadowed by the promises of economic benefits to a few.

When numbers do matter

Does such large-scale diversion of agriculture land have an implication on the nation’s
food security? After all, India has billion-plus mouths to feed. Besides, the country also
houses half of the world’s hungry.

For the sake of argument, if we accept that 21 lakh hectare of crop land has been diverted
for non-agricultural uses and if this area was brought under wheat, it would amount to a
mind boggling 57 lakh tonnes42 of produce which can feed more than 4.3 crore hungry
people every year43. Had political will to prevent this diversion prevailed, the number of
hungry would have gone down by over 12 percent44. Since the area diverted is more than
21 lakh hectares, it is clear that policy makers are implementing a blueprint to put India
on a path of food insecurity.

Diversion of agriculture land for industry is frequently justified by pointing towards

cultivable wasteland -- around 132 lakh hectares -- which can be developed and put under
cultivation45. However, cultivable wastelands have also declined by over 18 lakh
41
Aparna Pallavi (2008) Improvement? Trust? Down to Earth February 15, 2008 pp 28-29
42
Using the national average wheat productivity figure of 2.7 tonnes/ hectare
43
Using the recommended food intake figures of 11kg/ person/ month
44
As per the FAO, there are 35 million people in India who go hungry
45
Government of India (2007) Agriculture Statistics at a Glance 2006-2007. Ministry of Agriculture,
Government of India.
hectares between 1990 and 200446. Further, even if these wastelands are developed and
made cultivable to grow food, the productivity will remain abysmally low for several
years.

Half of the world’s hungry live in India. To produce additional food grain (say, wheat) to
feed this population will require an additional 170 lakh hectares. Besides,
malnourishment prevails among 45 percent of the children in the country and pulses and
fats can help to overcome this hidden hunger. In order to achieve self sufficiency in
pulses and edible oils an additional 200 lakh hectares is required47. Where will this land
come from? Forget agricultural land; there is not enough cultivable wasteland available
to meet this requirement.

The fact is that there simply is not enough land to go around. The statement of the
Commerce Ministry, “SEZs account for 0.000012 percent of the country’s arable area”48
ignores the fact that this land can feed over four million hungry every year in perpetuity.
Further, the argument of the Ministry that most land under SEZs had already been
acquired by State governments and very little crop land is being acquired is indefensible
because prior to its acquisition, it would have been under cultivation.

Undermining Irrigation

In addition to land, water is another resource that is limited in supply and there is an
increased competition for its use between agriculture and the industry. As it is, barely 40
percent of the cultivated area of the country is irrigated. This limited area however
accounts for more than half of the total value of output of Indian agriculture. Irrigation
also has the potential to increase crop yield by 30 percent and therefore its importance for
ensuring food security cannot be ignored. However, as in the case with land, industries
are being favoured for the use of water.

Between farming and industry, which sector will have a priority over the use of this
scarce resource? The various laws governing use of water by industries, plus the SEZ
Act of 2005 and SEZ Rules (2006) do not answer this question. Legislations at the state-
level are either silent on this issue or clearly allow these industries and SEZs to develop
water supply and distribute to its units. Given the present rules governing groundwater
resources in the country, there is precious little that a state can do to prevent industries
from running the underground aquifers dry and leaving nothing for surrounding
farmlands.

Not only groundwater, even rivers and reservoirs meant for irrigation purposes are now at
the service of industries. Take for instance the Whitefield Paper Mills SEZ in Andhra
Pradesh. Located within 5 kilometers of the river Godavari, the state government has
permitted the SEZ to draw 100 million litres of water per day49. On one hand, more than
46
Ibid.
47
India has been consistently importing 2 tonnes of pulses and 5 tonnes of edible oils for the last few years.
In 2007-08, the import of both has shot up considerably.
48
Business Line (2006) “SEZs not a Threat to Food Security”. Business Line Nov. 16, 2006.
49
http://www.whitefieldpapermills.com
half of the Godavari river basin is categorized as cultivable land while on the other, the
International Water Management Institute has recently pointed out that contrary to the
National Water Development Agency’s claims, the Godavari does not have enough water
to spare50. Naturally, any mass-industrialization along this zone will reduce water
availability for irrigation.

In Orissa, the allocation of water to industries from the Hirakud reservoir to industries
has gone up 30 times over the 1997 levels. Notwithstanding protests by farmers against
diversion of water meant for irrigation, the state is going ahead with its plans to increase
allocation for industries like the Hindalco in Sambalpur and Vedanta Industries Ltd. in
Jharsuguda. POSCO’s proposed SEZ in Jagatsinghpur has been allowed to directly draw
water from the river Mahanadi.

While industries are being given a priority over water rights by the Orissa government,
Padampur subdivision of Bargarh district of the state, which falls in the command area of
Hirakud dam, has remained permanently in the grip of continuous drought and
agricultural failure since 1960s. This area has also earned the dubious distinction of one
of the poorest region of the entire world. Obviously somebody has been busy stealing
water meant for irrigating the crops of poor farmers.

The Mundra Port SEZ being developed by the Adani Group in Gujarat has managed to
access 6 million litres per day of Narmada water for immediate use and expect the
allotment to go up51. SIPCOT SEZ in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu will receive water
from the SIPCOT water supply scheme52. Government of Andhra Pradesh will supply 50
million gallons of water per day for the FAB City SEZ coming up near Hyderabad53. The
list is endless…

Conclusion

It is unfortunate that despite over 177 lakh hectares of barren and uncultivable land lying
unused, scarce resources like rich agriculture land and water are being poached upon to
promote industrialisation. Instead of self-reliance, the focus has now irreversibly shifted
to import food to feed the burgeoning population.

However importing food is not cheap. Soaring oil prices, changing diet patterns in China
and India, and diversion of land and food for biofuel production in developed countries
are driving up food prices across the globe. Major grain producing countries are also
rapidly losing agriculture land. In the last decade China has lost nearly 80 lakh hectares
of farm land. According to the Institute for Agrarian Market Studies of Russia, three
major agricultural producers – Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan – have lost over 230 lakh

50
Smakhtin, V., Gamage, M. S. D. N., Bharati, L. 2007. Hydrological and environmental issues of
interbasin water transfers in India: A case of the Krishna River Basin. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International
Water Management Institute. 35p (IWMI Research Report 120)
51
http://www.mundrasez.com/water.php?navid=2&imnuid=32
52
http://www.sipcot.com
53
http://www.fabcity.in/fab-city/key-facts.html
hectares of cropland in the last three years54. No wonder the global grain reserves have
fallen to the lowest level since 1960. Depending on imports is not a feasible option for a
country like India with a billion plus population to feed.

While the Indian leadership is ignoring calls for staying steadfast on the path of food
security, world leaders think otherwise. “It's important for our Nation to be able to grow
foodstuffs to feed our people. Can you imagine a country that was unable to grow
enough food to feed the people? It would be a nation that would be subject to
international pressure. It would be a nation at risk. And so when we're talking about
American agriculture, we're really talking about a national security issue”.

This was President George W Bush addressing the National Future Farmers of America
Organization on July 27, 2001. For once, Bush does make sense.

India desperately needs an Agriculture Land Conservation Act to protect its farmers and
farm land. The threat to the nation’s food security, and the consequent political
sovereignty, is real. ##

Trained in Agriculture Economics, Bhaskar Goswami is with the New Delhi based
Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security. He can be reached at
bhaskargoswami@hotmail.com.

54
Yelena Zagorodnyaya (2008) “Oil Prices Drive the Cost of Food”. Ria Novosti Feb. 22, 2008