Ajay,
if you recall, aruni was pointing to this possible problem as an out come of restrictions on food export last year, which discourages the farmer from sowing crops that do not yield them enough profits, and restrictions in exports of products heavily effects such profits, and since the farmers move to other crops the effected crops see a shortage in supply and there is price rise. Minister and his bureaucracy need to have a forth sight of how they plan things and should avoid blanket bans, something I am sure they will do again this time round.
A section of farmers are moving to a different set of produce which is more exotic in nature, less consumed in India and is more export oriented, which gets them a better bargain, as a result the produce of more consumed food items in india is not growing as much as it should.
As pointed out by IBM, our distribution system is pathetic to say the least, and if the figure of 40% of agri produce going as a rot is anything to go by then we have a solution to the problem. less than adequate shortage points, storage points which are there have very poor facilities, very poor supply chain, extremely poor planning on part of fci, poor road/rail infrastructure all effect the price.
Such an important point raised by SATA on irrigation. We need to be head strong on certain aspects and our irrigation policy is one such. Dams at large scale have to be made to create huge water storage points. Rivers need to be connected and we need to give a damn to what the international community or our adjoining neighbours say. These are very important parts of second green revolution in the country but I guess now that there is no reference to the second green revolution so these very important proposals seem buried.
Make sure agriculture land is not used for industrial, real estate or other such activity other than for agriculture purpose only.
Trading in commodities makes a hell of a difference at the price at which we consume things. Just create hype and make the market nervous on a shortfall and see how the market helps you earn your next rupee if you are a part of the daily trading community. More like how the price of oil got speculated to $147/barrel. Government needs to keep a close eye on how the prices are being speculated.
The above point leads to hoarding and I am sure it is happening. Government needs to make raids at such storage points and culprits need to be punished, put a fear in the mind of the culprits and a lot of supply would start happening.