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India may lift food export ban once supply situation improves

Says agri minister

PlT, Rome
Agriculture and Food Minister of India Sharad Pawar has said the restrictions imposed on export of major foodgrain are not permanent and the government can lift the ban once the supply situation improves.
"1 am confident that prices will go down and in such a situation we don't want to continue with these types of restrictions," Pawar told PT1 when asked about the demand being raised by world leaders on lifting export ban.
"Generally we are also not very much against that what they are saying. We have taken certain decisions where there is a tremendous shortage like pulses or edible oil in India. But whenever we will improve production, we don't want to continue that,” he added.
The government has banned export of various commodities like wheat, nonbasmati rice, pulses and imposed duty on export of basmati rice in a bid to check inflation which has increased to 45-month high of 8.24 percent.
Though Pawar broadly agreed to the suggestions of the world leaders including UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon to lift export ban, but pointed out that India had imposed the restrictions to protect the poor people in the country.
"Even today quite a bit of population live below poverty line and we have to protect the interest of vulnerable section
of society and for that purpose we have to keep the availability in the open market and also with the government. In such situation, we have to take certain decisions but these decisions are not on permanent basis," he added.
Pawar represented India at Rome Conference, organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), to chalk out a strategy to deal with the soaring commodity prices and minimise the impact of poor people of the world.
Pawar said ultimately everybody would have to accept the global market concept and "whatever restrictions are there these are temporary. These are not long term or permanent basis restrictions.”
The minister attributed the ongoing global food crisis to the decision of the major developed countries to divert substantial area of their wheat crop to the corn for production of ethanol and high crude oil prices. "That is the main problem which has ultimately created this situation", he added.
Referring to the Indian experience, Pawar said, the government has successfully managed the price level as compared to other countries.
"Wheat prices internationally has gone up by 100 percent as against 7 to 8 percent in India and rice prices by 140 percent internationally as against 17-18 percent. That shows that our efforts are definitely useful and beneficial for our own population", Pawar said.