Reckless control over an industry and its consequences-India's "bitter" sugar story

It is an irrefutable fact that india is one of the top sugar producing countries in the world as well the top sugar consuming country. Whether these achievements are due to the extraordinary skills of the farmer, efficiency of the sugar industry or the proactive government policy interventions, is a tough question that begs for an answer. Another crucial issue is whether this most regulated industry is really healthy providing equity to all the stakeholders, the farmer, consumer and the industry. Though we call India a market driven economy, when it comes to sugar industry it is government driven with neither the industry nor the farmers being truly happy. Some time one feels that sugar is a product that has got more importance that it deserves. Its consumption at high levels has been implicated in a variety of lifestyle diseases like diabetes and obesity and still this is one commodity government considers as an essential one to be included as an item for subsidy under essential commodity basket distributed through PDS! 

Is sugar really an essential commodity? A highly debatable question. Health experts world over point out the havoc sugar has brought about among the population in developed countries like the US. It is an irrefutable fact that two out of three Americans are either over weight or obese and high consumption of sugar has been implicated as the major cause for this epidemic. As against the recommended maximum consumption of  45 grams of added sugar per day for sound health, the present average consumption of almost 180 grams per day proves the point that over consumption is responsible for the health crisis being faced by that country. The US seems to be on a suicidal course as its consumption of sugar and refined wheat flour is incongruously high reported at 60-65 kg each per capita annually. White flour from wheat is equally dangerous as its GI values are even higher than that of white sugar and this flour is the major ingredient in practically all the food products including bread, biscuits and cookies, pastry products, pizza, pasta and noodles and others. Can India learn a lesson from the experience of this country to prevent a catastrophic situation where people with increasing income opt for a lifestyle that is characterized by high sugar and white flour consumption? 

Sugar consumption in India is estimated to be 20 kg per capita per year which works out to about 60 grams per day, considered tolerable from health angles but the average figure hides the real fact that extent of daily consumption can vary enormously with poor segments of the population consuming much less than the average figure while well to do citizens might be taking sugar at a level higher than the average. Similarly taking refined flour (Maida) intake which also contributes to quick boost in blood glucose, the production by roller flour mills is comparatively low More than 65% of the wheat produced in the country is milled in conventional plate mills (Chakkis) and the healthy whole wheat flour (Atta) from them is consumed directly by the households for making many traditional preparations. The 900 and odd roller flour mills just produce about 12 million tons of maida which works out to just 10 kg per capita per year and therefore this is considered to have insignificant adverse impact on the health. Probably the relatively low incidence of life style disorders like diabetes in India can be explained by the lower consumption of sugar and maida by the vast majority of the population. Still any rise in sugar price due to a long term policy of restricting sugarcane cultivation or encouraging fuel alcohol will be good for the health of the consumer and economic well being of the farmer as well as the industry in the long run.

Series of farmer suicides in the sugar belt during the last few years raises the inevitable question whether government should really micromanage the industry or leave it to the market forces to determine the extent of sugarcane cultivation in the country from time to time. It is an anachronism that while the country is facing huge shortages of pulses and oilseeds which are the backbones of nutrition especially for vegetarian population, during the last two decades precious little has been done to shore up their production. The country is watching with dismay shortages of these critical foods in the market and escalating prices that deny many people access to these critical food components in India diet. Billions of rupees worth imports are taking place expending our precious foreign exchange and India has the unenviable position of being the biggest importer of edible oils in the world! As most of the sugarcane cultivation is carried out in areas in 6 states where irrigation facilities have been created to help farmers to grow this crop, pulses are relegated to the background growing mostly as drought crops with meager productivity. Successive governments must answer for this criminal negligence of both pulses and oilseed crops that has condemned the nation to a nutrient starved one. Can this be condoned? 

It is rather amazing that sugar is intricately linked to vote bank politics and  to say that the industry is controlled by a few sugar barons with political power and clout is an understatement!.  Successive governments have played into the hands of the sugar industry by instituting regulatory controls that distort the sugar landscape in the country. It is an irrefutable fact that vast number of people are employed by the sugar industry and tinkering with it may turn out to be disastrous if not carefully planned. What will happen if the sugar industry is totally deregulated leaving it to the pulls and pressures of the market? If sugar prices to day are ridiculously low making the entire industry sick, the responsibility must be borne by successive governments which held it in its vice like grip because of vote bank considerations. Why should the government give unlimited licenses to sugar mills which eventually become sick though those well connected politically prosper because of many reasons?  If such a total decontrol takes place only fittest ones will survive and there may be temporary hike in prices for the consumer which will not be felt especially when food costs are constantly on rise without the consumers raising any serious alarm.

It is said that when India sneezes the sugar world catches the cold! This is because of the influence of surplus sugar lying with sugar mills which are not allowed to be exported beyond a certain limit and naturally if too much is exported the global prices crash and vice versa. With the recent decision by the government to mandate blending of petrol to the extent of 10% with ethyl alcohol the demand from the fuel industry is likely to grow manifold. However has the country enough capacity to produce alcohol from sources like molasses at present?  Probably not and is it not then incumbent upon the government to give priority for more production of alcohol rather than white sugar? Brazil has shown to the world how sugarcane crop can be harnessed to make more sustainable fuels and its example ought to be followed by India. If sugarcane crop is diverted for alcohol production there might be some price hiccups in the market but consumers will not mind it when they are already coughing up Rs 150-200 for a kilogram of commonly used pulses. 

Look at the global scenario vis-a-vis sugar and alcohol. Brazil produces more than 35 million tons (mt) of sugar compared to India's production of 28.5 mt in an year. While Brazil exports 23.8 mt of sugar Indian export is pegged at 2.5 mt reflecting the high control government has on the sugar industry in the country. World wide sugar production and consumption are more less balanced though the industry carries a large stock as a buffer against wide price fluctuations. Brazil is also in the fore front in utilizing sugarcane for alcohol production as recently it has increased the mandatory blending level from 25 to 27%  Interestingly Brazil uses only 40% of its cane production for making sugar while the balance goes for alcohol production. In contrast India has not even been able to enforce effectively the 5% blending policy so far and the reason attributed to this shoddy performance is shortage of alcohol in the country..It is against this background that government has to think of diverting the sugarcane crop directly to produce alcohol instead of relentlessly pursuing sugar production through unnecessary and burdensome subsidization policies. Government does not seem to be worried about the enormous outgo of foreign exchange on import of petroleum fuels and an effective policy to ensure alcohol blending can substantially reduce our petroleum import bills. As added bonus the country will be able to reduce its carbon foot print significantly as ethanol-petrol blend is less polluting compared to petroleum fuels. 

As a part of such a policy the country must incentivize setting up alcohol production units which can directly convert sugarcane juice into ethanol. If the avowed policy of mandating 20% blending by 2017 is to be realized India will need about 4.5 billion liters from the current production base of 1.5 bn liters of fuel grade ethanol. Though the established capacity of 350 distilleries is placed at 1.5 bn liters, they also produce rectified spirit to the extent of 4 bn liters per annum for industrial and other uses. It may be difficult to divert the latter to fuel ethanol production as it will adversely affect the industry which uses alcohol as its feed stock. As increasing biofuel ethanol production solely from molasses is impractical, direct conversion of crushed sugarcane juice seems to the only alternative available to the country. One ton of sugarcane is supposed to yield 70 liters of alcohol and naturally a huge quantity of sugarcane may have to be diverted to direct ethanol production which could limit sugar production to some extent. Sooner the government takes a policy decision on this crucial sector better it will be for the country. .

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Tolerance, thy name is India-Scary tolerance for unsafe and sub-quality foods by the population

"Intolerance" is the new slogan one hears in India frequently during the last few months. Why not? After all we are all familiar with sugar intolerance, lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance, intolerance for many other foods and India is to day the world capital of sugar intolerant people. However no one seems to be concerned with some of these life threatening intolerance and this issue is rarely focused in any media discussions or social sector plans. In stead the theme of to days raging discussion is about intolerance at the political level. During the last few months if one watches the television channels, especially those airing "news" for 24 hours and presenting "panel" discussions, an impression is gained that India is the capital of social intolerance and consequent violence through out the country! If  one believes them, minority community people are not safe in this country any more because of increasing intolerance by the majority community.. Some "intellectuals" who felt neglected by the media, suddenly got the opportunity to come to lime light by grandiosely declaring that they "would" return the awards they "earned" through their achievements in their respective fields as a mark of protest and troubling of their "conscience" which were never evident before even at worst of the times in the history of this country.. 

Whether one likes it or not India is an over democratized country with each and every citizen aware of his rights without bothering to think about his responsibility to the society. Freedom of expression is enshrined in the constitution. Probably this is giving them the right to say any thing and every thing, logical or illogical, rational as well as irrational, use of hurtful or abusive language in the public and above all the right to violate any law without fear of retribution from the authorities. What is galling in this great charade is the "death of truth"! According to statistics during the year 2015 incidences of intolerant actions and dangerous communal clashes has come down by almost 50% compared to the past 5 years and one fails to understand how any one, honest and decent, in this country, can say intolerance has increased! One can understand the relevance of such a discussion if one talks about intolerance among politicians because every political party is intolerant of others in their greed for power which also entitles them the right to loot the treasury! Definitely this intolerance has greatly increased during the last couple of years because of the political upheaval caused by the dethroning of the dynastic political family during the election in 2014. After all most political parties that work in India are like the "crabs in the bucket" where no crab is allowed to escape by laggards pulling its lags!  

This great country has a glorious past, a great culture, world envying heritage, several virtues and achievements about which every Indian can be proud of. It is true that India is also one of the top 10 countries with high corruption and consequent debilitation of the average citizen. Major financial scams that took place during the last few years  are unbearable to most citizens who are honest and it is a pity that the omnipotent corruption is eating into the vitals of the country. Are not the citizens showing utmost tolerance to these negative perception about the ruling class, be politicians, bureaucrats, some industry captains or the lowly paid babus in government agencies with whom he has to deal with every day? Have we come across any violence against these vultures of the society in any part of the country? Is this a sign of "intolerance"?. Sociologists may conveniently push this trait under the carpet saying it is the helplessness of the common man that has made him docile and submissive!  

Look at the way the people in this country are being systematically trampled upon by insensitive rulers at all levels, be it federal government, state ruling machinery, civic administrations in towns and cities, zilla parishats, village panchayats or others and how amazing that despite such assault on the rights of human beings day in and day out people are rarely provoked! Whether the roads are full of pot holes or the traffic is non-disciplined water supply is irregular or non-existent and dangerous to health, or hospitals are any thing but hospitable or foods and drugs are fake and spurious or prevalence of looting by the thieves, gangsters and dacoits or uncontrolled pollution of the air or irregular supply of quality power or imposition of taxes irrationally, average Indian citizen bears them with a grin! If this is not tolerance  reminding us of ancient sages with unlimited patience, what else it is? 

Take the case of foods which are available in the country. One of the fundamental rights of any citizen in a civilized country is access to safe and quality food in the market. Governments at the Center as well as States have employed thousands of personnel, supposed to be vested with the onus to ensure only safe foods are offered in the market place. Unfortunately the ground reality is totally different bordering on disgust! In a shocking report it was brought out that in a big state like Bihar, the third most populous state in the country with a population exceeding 10 crore, there are hardly a dozen vigilant officers to monitor the quality of food offered by thousands of traders, retailers, hotels and restaurants and road side eateries! Practically every food there is adulterated, some benign and others dangerous but still there is not a murmur of protest from there and to top it the people have selected the very same people, responsible for this pitiable situation, for ruling them in the recent election there! If this is not tolerance what else it is? This food landscape is true in every state in the country and one never hears about riots or violence on this score. 

Indian citizen whether rich or poor, always had a raw deal as far as food prices are concerned. When onion prices shot up last year to unbearable levels, did any one hear about riots any where though onion is an important component of the diet to most Indians. Common man also knows why this happened, most probably because of the classical politician-hoarder nexus that created an artifical scarcity for onion in the market. Same situation keep repeating with many vegetables and fruits the price escalation varying from 50-200 % . The abnormal price increase of dals and pulses is another case. Imagine the distress of a population most of them vegetarians by choice when their major protein source became dearer because of 100% escalation of price! Such things keep on happening in a big country like India and the patient people in this country had taken such periodic hiccups in their stride.

Talking about food, are the people so innocent not to understand the implications of such gross negligence and shirking responsibility by rulers they themselves elected? Probably there is a dormant awareness that foods which are not branded backed by reputed manufacturers can be of indifferent quality but many do not sense the long term dangers inherent in buying unsafe foods, often at cheaper prices. Some say Indians are fatalistic in nature leaving their fate in the hands of God and if this logic is applied to food there is unlimited scope for food fraudsters in the country. Look at the Maggi noodles case where the whole Government machinery came down very heavily on the manufacturer, banned the product saying it is unsafe and initiated legal action  for reparation, accusing that the noodle is unsafe! But the very same Maggie reintroduced this month after judicial intervention, disappeared from the market shelves like hot potatoes in no time! Why this has happened? Because people seem to trust the industry more than the government. 

Some of the products most frequently and successfully adulterated in the country include edible oils with dangerous inedible oils and mineral oil, spices like Turmeric with Metanil yellow dye, vegetables like peas, green chilies with malachite green, black pepper with papaya seeds, mustard seeds with Argemone seeds, coffee with tamarind seed powder, tea with tea waste, saffron with other flower stigmas, milk, khoa and condensed milk with starch, milk with water, detergents, soaps, cheap oils, tea with spent tea, etc. According to admissions by FSSAI, more than 60% of milk in the country is adulterated! Still millions of consumers in India chase the fresh milk vendors for "fresh milk" hoping for a natural product. The list goes on and on but Indian consumer is ever patient with them with not much of a grouse. Tolerance is the reason for such an attitude which is sustaining such a situation.  How any one in his right sense call this an intolerant country! It is a bitter truth that this tolerance is increasing day by day which is scary and not good for the country! If this intolerance debate is channeled to the food landscape in the country, people must be advised to be more intolerant towards harmful and fraudulent foods and pressurize the rulers to be more aggressive in bringing to books the food criminals who are holding the country to ransom!     
   .      

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com

http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Organized retail market sector in India-Inefficiency at its peak!

Shopping for daily needs is a chore no family can afford to ignore. From time immemorial buying and selling formed an integral part of human society and the barter system of the old world changed to cash and carry during the 19th and 20th centuries after monetization in the form of coins and notes during the last two hundred years, Modern days cash purchase is disappearing in many countries and credit and debit cards rule the roost. Imagine how cumbersome was the shopping experience in the olden days, compared to what we see to day with an array of super markets and Malls ready to cater to every whim and fancy of the consumer, at least in a few developed countries. The retail space in India is more or less monopolized by the so called unorganized sector shops, estimated to be about 14 million in number, though this figure will have to be taken with a pinch of salt but it is true that they are omnipotent in India in every nook and corner.

With the advent of the policy of encouraging foreign investment in the retail sector Government of India dramatically liberalized its FDI policies a couple of years ago but the response from international giants in this field has been at best lukewarm. Probably the wide spread presence of bit players, with average vending area of just 100 s.ft, in huge number and some of the pre-conditions stipulated for FDI, very few outsiders seem to have sufficient courage to invest in this sector. The domestic retailers in the organized sector with a vending area of over 500 s.ft and registered with sales tax, income tax and regulatory authorities who ventured into this sector more than a decade ago smelling big money are all struggling now, not able to displace the traditional shopping outlets to any significant extent. Not even 5% of the $ 520 billion retail market is in the hands of these large retailers with franchising and chain stores, most of them not able to come out of the red till now. More over their presence is restricted to large metros and small towns with practically no penetration into rural areas. Some how the retail industry appears to be forgetting the reality in India where there are more than 5.5 lakh villages and about 70% of the population eking out a living in these areas. Probably they must have realized the potential logistical nightmare in extending their operations to the rural hinterlands.

Why is that in spite of all the statistics doled out on the retailing potential in the country, organized retailing has not been able to get any significant toehold in this business? There are many reasons, most important one being the gross inefficiency in management of large sized stores as a consequence of which repeat buyers are reluctant to patronize them. Added to this more than two thirds of the buyers/shoppers are teen agers and youngsters with an impatient mind, having no time to waste in a supermarket which does not measure up to their expectations and aspirations. 91 % of them own at least one smart phone with which they can make fast purchases through on-line e-commerce portals. There are one million retailers now shopping on-line through various portals and they seem to be clients shifting their loyalty from super markets to e-commerce sellers. It is amazing that in cities like Bangalore e-traders are collecting orders on-line even for perishable goods like fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs etc and delivering the orders at the door step of the customers within a matter of few hours! Who will prefer going to the supermarkets as they function now with no accountability and sensitivity to consumer's woes when they visit their outlets.

What can these unfortunate investors do to expand their market reach and get out of the present "rut". Many things, most of them being simple and common sensical. These include better designed aisles, posting of aisle attendants to help to assist the consumer, adequate aisle width that will ensure a "collision-free" walk, convenient ferrying carts that move without wobbling, child carrying provisions in the shopping carts, special arrangements for physically challenged category of buyers, adequate toilet facilities, avoiding in-house maintenance and restocking periods to clash with the prescribed shopping times, scientific display arrangements, price tagging without any confusion, multiple billing counters, avoiding "guided buying" tendency where only a particular brand is displayed giving no option to the buyers, avoiding stocking only jumbo packs to the exclusion of small sized packs, product return policy for unsatisfied customers to return the product within a specified period and ultimately making the shopping experience a hassle free and pleasant one. 

Deployment of untrained personnel, cluttered atmosphere, over crowded billing counters, undue delay at the cash counters, unresponsive shopping assistants, suspicious viewing of the customers, absence of separate dedicated billing counters for senior citizens and small buyers with a few items purchased and above all the unhealthy environment of the shopping place are order of the day as far as most supermarkets are concerned. Loyalty programs where ever exist are not at all customer friendly. Discounts offered on many products from time to time are not of a magnitude that will attract consumers to their outlets like a magnet. Many super markets selling fresh fruits and vegetables force the customers to stand in separate queues to weigh and affix price tags and often bulk buyers crowd around such counters giving little respite to regular buyers. Those supermarkets without integration of their operations with farms where fresh produce are raised will not be able to survive for long because of quality problems. 

Under the Indian conditions it is not going to be easy for large buyers to establish as viable players unless some of the drawbacks and inadequacies as cataloged above are addressed with some seriousness. When a consumer walks into a supermarket his biggest expectation is that the materials sold are of superior quality compared to that offered by others. Then comes his desire to get his requirements at a price he considers reasonable. Supermarkets will have to offer attractive discounts to attract repeat buyers. They have a big advantage in that the ambiance, vast strolling space and wide range of products they can offer are some thing their competitors viz the small traders can never counter!  In contrast the legendary "mom and pop" stores have the singular strength in the form of "personalized" service which contributes to establishing some sort of  "kinship" between them. Considering all these imponderable factors, only very efficient super markets can survive in India.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com  

Changing face of Indian agriculture-Mechanization vs manual operations

How often we hear the bland statement that rural India is responsible for feeding a population estimated at 1.20 billion in India and 70% of India's population is engaged in agricultural and other rural based activities, being the residents of more than 5 lakh villages across the country. However what is not clear is whether so many people are really needed to produce the quantum of foods being harvested year in and year out? There was this situation during the early stage of growth of this country when the technological base of agriculture, especially use of mechanical implements was indeed very weak, with most operations in the field being carried by the labor available locally. Over the years India's technological base has expanded and there is indigenous manufacture of many mechanical implements liker tractors which can fill the places of many manual workers with much more efficiency and it is no wonder that many well to do farmers are shifting to mechanized cultivation at least partially in many parts of the country, especially in Punjab and Haryana. Probably part of the productivity achieved during the last few years can be attributed to this factor. If this is so one wonders what ever has happened to the displaced labor caused by such mechanization trend? 

There is a strong feeling that the frenetic pace at which migration of rural population into urban areas must have some thing to do with declining opportunities for gainful employment in the farmlands in the country because of perceptible transition from predominantly labor oriented operations to a machine based production regime seen all over the country, though it is more in some states and less in some others. One of the amazing phenomena associated with this transition is that it flies contrary to the theory that small land holdings that characterize the land holding pattern in the country does not lend itself to mechanized farming unlike that existing in western countries where farm sizes can be 1000 acres and above in most cases. Look at the land holding pattern in India which brings out the stark reality about the predominance of marginal farmers in the agricultural landscape of the country. Almost 63% of the landholders have, on an average holding size of less than an acre of land to till while about 19% are relatively better placed by farming on a piece of land about the size of 3 acres per family. On the other end of the spectrum, 1% of the farming population own on an average 35 acres of land.per person. Others fall in between with average size holding in the range of 5 acres to 35 acres. The million dollar question that begs for an answer is how far such a landscape is amenable to mechanized farming? 

No doubt Indian agriculture is going through a transformation with governments, both at the state and central levels pumping in enormous money for sustaining the livelihood of the farmers, especially the so called marginal farmers. Minimum Support Prices offered to more than two dozen commodities and many farmer welfare programs are able to provide sustenance to millions of farmers. But at the same time more farmer suicides are taking place with a monotonous regularity defying any logical explanation. Billions of rupees worth of loans are being written off every year with politicians competing with each other in announcing such write offs! If India can boast of food grain stocks that is capable of ensuring food security we have to thank our hard working farmers who toil under adverse conditions like frequent droughts and floods. But can this situation continue indefinitely and will the farmers continue to stick to their land if agricultural activity becomes a perennially losing avocation? Land fragmentation in India is inevitable under a government regime where inherited land holdings by successive generations get shrunken in size and obviously becoming more and more non-viable. These inherited land pieces are not easily salable due to severe restrictive policies of the state governments with financially capable entrepreneurs barred from buying agricultural land. A classical Catch 22 situation!   

A recent report by one of the agencies under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) provides interesting information regarding the changing agricultural scenario in the country. According to this report, Indian farmers, in spite of enormous hurdles and limitations are increasingly using more and more power based mechanical devices replacing the human element to manage their lands. India is known for its bullock driven economy till a couple of decades ago with agriculture contributing substantially to the national GDP and man and the beast combination successfully brought about the green revolution in the last millennium achieving the much desired food self sufficiency. Even to day many agricultural and social experts are not willing to write off the poor oxen which was an integral part of the rural settings across the country. A 1000 animal village with 60% milking cows and the rest dry cows and oxen is being propagated by the government of India for the integrated development of a village which can sell its milk for generating income while the byproducts from the animals like cow dung can produce cooking gas as well as manure for the farms belonging to the villagers. How far such novel schemes will succeed in an era when people are exposed to the convenience inherent in mechanical implements based agriculture remains to be seen.    

If ICAR findings are to be believed, Indian agriculture is going through a far reaching change mode beginning two decades ago. The share of human power available for carrying out the various operations in farming seems to have come down to less than 5% while draught animals' share also hovers around another 5%. More than 90% of the power is estimated to be drawn from mechanical sources like tractors and power tillers ( 47%); electric motors (27%) and diesel engines (16%). Compare this with the situation obtaining 40 years ago when 60% of the power was provided by humans and animals - 15% by farm workers and 45% by animals. These estimates are based on an average value of power that a human or a draught animal or any of the machines generate per unit of land. An average human being notionally capable of yielding about 0.15 kilowatt power per hectare of land worked while a tractor can give 30.21kW. .

It is true that overall farm mechanization in India has just reached about 40% which may be a low figure when compared to 95% levels prevalent in many developed countries. Thus 40% of farm operations for major crops are done by mechanical power sources and 60% is still being done by non- power sources like humans and bullocks.which generate only 10% of the total power available in farming. Naturally such over dependence on non-power sources has its own limitations in terms of efficiency. To day tractors are used mainly for initial land preparation by most farmers.while many use mechanical means for threshing and irrigation. Free supply of power for pump sets has helped those farmers having more than two acres of land while marginal farmers are denied this vital input free. Core operations like transplanting, weeding, fertilizer use etc are still done by farm workers. The small size of land holdings does not permit use of power driven tools for these operations. The use of power tillers and other farm machinery is facilitated by their easy availability on rental basis for a cluster of villages. 

Many social experts feel that such rapid mechanization trend can create a human problem because machines are bound to displace humans in the farm hinterlands of the country resulting in huge unemployment and under employment. However the national statistical figures available most recently tell a different story. According to the figures from the government there were 111 million cultivators and 75 million agricultural labourers in 1991 working to about 185 million people directly engaged in farming activities. Look at the latest figures and what a change has come about defying any rational explanation. As per the 2011 census there were 119 million cultivators and a whopping 144 million agricultural labourers, making a total of 263 million people working on land. If population increase during this period  is factored, as against a population increased of 43% during the last twenty years, the number of landless agricultural laborers registered an astonishing increase of 93%. The primary reason for this is that there is nowhere else where this army of under-employed people can find work, forcing them to crowd into agriculture or related rural work. It also pushes up migration to cities in search of jobs. 

The MNREGA, a novel initiative from the government to provide sustenance to persons not finding income generating activities, especially during the non-agricultural season in many rural areas has definitely helped to alleviate the situation to some extent. According to some estimates government had spent over 2 lakh crore rupees between 2007 and 2014 on this much touted welfare scheme though there is nothing much to show vis-a-vis permanent assets created, as per the original intention of the planners. Another paradox that is glaring is that there are not many takers for jobs offered under MNREGA with more than half the allocation remaining unspent for want of demand! Probably this program may have to be revisited for bringing about appropriate changes immediately to serve the purpose and create assets in the area of operation. 

If there are 144 million landless agricultural laborers hanging around the villages, largely under employed, what is the government going to do to prevent such a colossal waste of human resources year after year which is bound to go up if the present trend of agricultural mechanization continues at the current pace?  As there does not appear to be any clear policy orchestration still, are we going to see more and more people in the rural areas being pushed to poverty due to this?  In the light of the big push being given to the "Make in India" policy of the new government in the coming years, why not create massive industrial townships with adequate infrastructure for skill development in many rural areas with supporting family care facilities so that the vast population of under employed people, wasting most of their time, are absorbed by the industry on a regular basis? After all per in acre employment, agriculture cannot compete with industry and boosting manufacturing sector can be a sure way of utilizing the otherwise wasted man power. Reports from China indicate that large scale shifting of rural population to specially built smart towns and transferring the land to giant American agricultural companies with most modern technology and deep pockets are being attempted to expand the food production to meet future needs of a burgeoning population. This is not to suggest that we must ape China but the idea of rehabilitating rural population through such novel out of the box thinking is necessary to save the country from a potential melt down in our rural hinterlands causing turmoil all around.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Malnourished and under nourished children in India-A reality check

Food, health and life are intricately interlinked and unless there is a balance and moderation in food intake, health is bound to be seriously affected adversely. An oft repeated question is whether the world to day is a better place to live compared to that which existed 5-6 decades ago? If the yardstick for measuring the quality of life is the health, definitely it is much worse than before. There is terrible inequality in accessing available food across the population with opulent countries enjoying a surplus of foods which are very often wasted ignoring the pitiable living conditions of millions of people spanning the three continents Asia, South America and Africa. The two aspects of food which are important to be kept in mind are quality and quantity. In many developed countries quantity of food available, if taken on an average, is more than sufficient to meet the calorie needs of their population. What is sorely missing is the quality of food consumed by them which leaves very much to be desired. Look at the health status of people in the US where more than half the population is over weight while almost one third is afflicted by obesity epidemic. This raises the inevitable question as to what constitutes a good diet and what happens if the diet is not based on factors that influence maintaining of good health.

As a thumb rule,human beings generally need about 2000 kCal, 50 g of proteins, 50 g of fat, 25 g of dietary fiber, 8 essential amino acids and two essential fatty acids which human body cannot make and vitamins and minerals. Water, though not considered a nutrient is also essential corresponding to an intake of 1 ml per calorie ingested. This is supposed to be a golden guideline for preventing development of many health disorders in life and can be easily met by judicial combination of natural food ingredients like cereals, pulses, milk, nuts, fruits, vegetables with or without animal based foods like meat, egg and fish. If the above assumption is correct why is that Americans eating rich foods including an abundance of highly nutritious animal based products still suffer from many diseases to day? Answer to this lies in the fact that the cereals they consume are highly refined devoid of practically all natural nutrients, most calories coming from highly refined white sugar or HFCS, heavy consumption of fat rich foods such as fried ones, baked goods etc and eating too much animal products. It is only recently that a scientific study in the US brought out the startling truth that eating even a small amount of whole grains about 33 g a day can reduce the chance of premature death very significantly! 

What about situation that is obtaining in India? Here again there are sufficient foods available in the country to meet the needs of every citizen but the access to these foods is constrained by economic factors. For many poor people constituting almost 40% of the country's population high quality foods like milk, pulses, egg and meat in sufficient quantities are beyond their reach. This problem is all the more intractable in the rural hinterlands of the country where most poor people live eking out a dreary existence. The highly unpredictable agricultural situation and lack of opportunities for engaging in income generation avocations make matter worse! The much touted Food Security Act does promise almost 1000 kCal of food in the form of very low priced cereals like rice and wheat, while other needs like proteins, fat and some of the essential nutrients are ignored in the scheme of things. All government programs designed so far and being implemented are just to keep hunger away among the poor people but do not bother about the quality of the food distributed under the social responsibility umbrella. 

The most recent circus government is doing under the FSA is giving away rice at Re 1 per kg and wheat at Rs 2 per kg for almost two thirds of the country's population whether all of them really deserve them or not based on economic criteria. The existing school feeding programs are also heavily loaded in favor of cereals. There are supposed to be about 7 lakh kitchens staffed by 26 lack cooks cum helpers serving about 11 crore children in thousands of schools across the country, probably the largest socially oriented scheme any where in the world. This is no doubt a tremendous feat worth appreciating and admiring. Unfortunately these numbers hide more than what they reveal. The program claims to provides about 300 kCal of energy and 16 g of protein for every kid though no one knows how far this target is fulfilled by cooking foods in these school kitchens out of cereals supplied by the government. Providing calories and proteins once a day may be theoretically adequate partially as far as nutrition is concerned but does it fill the tummy of the child who comes to the school hungry? Hardly! Many kids are reported to be coming to the school with empty stomach and wait eagerly till lunch time to get their share of meals cooked at the school. If this is so can the children be expected to concentrate on the lessons taught in the class rooms?

Some pundits have suggested that government should consider providing break fast also to the school kids besides the midday meals   May be a good suggestion but where is the end for such freebies , especially in a country like India not considered to be very rich to squander its resources? A honest citizen often wonders what is the role of the government in welfare of a citizen? A family which spawns a child has no responsibility to look after it and see through its adulthood and further till it can stand on its own legs? Look at India to day where there are government freebies for practically every thing from conception till the end whether they deserve them or not! If government has to give free medical service, child care service, educational service, housing service, subsidized transportation, special allowances for female children, heavily subsidized food grains, pension for old age population and widows, write off loans taken from government banks, provide subsidized fertilizers to farmers whether rich or poor and many other hidden economic help, what is the role of the parents? In this case if breakfast and lunch are provided at school, what else parents have to do? How can a child consider his parent as his own if they are not providing him with food at home? After all government is even giving jobs under NREGA for at least 100 days that puts about Rs 15000 in the hands of many laborers who declare that they do not have any other income.With Rice and Wheat being made available at Rs 1-2 per kg where is the problem in feeding the children at home? If low response to the NREGA scheme as reported in Karnataka is really true, poor people might be hard to find who are enamored by the Rs 15000 that can be earned by working for 100 days! May be there are a few genuine cases with extremely low income who must be identified  as targets for such freebie schemes.             

Many NGOs and international bodies are lamenting that 1 out of 3 children in India is malnourished and world's largest malnourished children live in India. It may sound shocking that 50% of childhood mortality is attributed to malnutrition and under nourishment. Similarly another stock claim is that 46% of children below 3 years of age in India have low Body Mass Index (BMI) which is supposed to be a manifestation of undernourishment and malnutrition. They further aver that inadequate food in quantity and nutritional quality during pregnancy, lactation and after birth are responsible for this sordid situation. One of the critical deficiencies being focused is essential fatty acids (EFA) like Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids which are necessary for proper development of brain, eyes and preempting onset of diseases like CVD, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer's, dementia and others during growth later. Plant foods are not considered excellent sources of these essential fatty acids and well to do population derive them from fish and marine food sources. But two plant sources Soybean and Sunflower seeds can be significant sources of EFA , both Omega-6 and Omega-3 and all the programs presently running under the food service schemes must consider including one or more of these oil seeds in the meal recipes being followed.  

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com

http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Indian farmers-Between deep sea and the devil

India has been traditionally an agriculture oriented country with millions of farmers peacefully ploughing their land and growing a variety of crops as food as well as for cash generation. Though for centuries the bullock drawn ploughing "technology" has been in vogue, advent of tractors in a big way in the country made many farmers switch over to partially mechanized agriculture. But for millions of small farmers the bullock centric cultivation practice is still  inevitable as buying mechanized gadgets is unaffordable to them. Bullocks have a few advantages when it comes to rural environment though lately even these man-friendly beast is becoming exorbitantly costly to acquire and maintain. Why is that Indian farmers cannot modernize their agricultural practices in spite massive subsidization of this in the country?

The continuing saga of farmers is best reflected by the unceasing episodes of suicides in the rural area and according to governments own data, more than 10% of suicides in the country happen in the rural areas by farmers. Why should a happy farmers, as being claimed by the government, takes his own life, leaving his kith and kin in his family as destitute? Human psychologists are of the view that human being commit suicides for either of the two reasons. First he is driven to suicide by his compromised self respect, fearful of the humiliation in the society. Alternately desperate economic situation where he is heavily burdened by loans with exorbitant interests from local loan sharks who have a way of extortion and blackmailing to extract his pound of flesh. In spite of many progressive measures successive governments have been taking to "pamper" to the farmers, as many citizens feel, the benefits of economic growth have not touched a large number of farmers coming under the category of marginal farmers. There is a feeling that these benefits have been cornered by well to do, rich farmers with political connections! 

Look at the land holding pattern in the country where 70% of the population is engaged in agricultural and allied activities. Those holding less than one hectare of land constitute 62 % of the population while others with 1-2 hectares make up another 19%. In other words 81% of the agriculturists own major part of the agricultural landscape of the country. Under such a situation what one can expect from these unfortunate brethren of ours who work the whole day to eke out an existence for him and his family while raising about 71 kg of wheat and 80 kg of rice to every Indian citizen! In this process what is he getting back? A decent livelihood? No way! While the counterpart of Indian farmer in Australia raises 10.8 tons of rice per hectare, he is not able to produce even 3.5 tons per hectare from his land. As for wheat Indian grower produces 2.8 tons per hectare while his counterpart in the Netherlands enjoy a harvest of 9 tons per hectare. Chinese farmer produces about 3 tons of Chickpeas from each hectare of his land whereas in India the average yield is a measly 0.9 ton per hectare. Why is this happening in our country which was a food bowl of the world for centuries? Who is responsible for this shameful and pitiable condition of our farmers?  

With majority of farmers owning less than an hectare, what type of economic viability one can expect from their operations? Modern farming technology cannot be applied unless farm sizes are at least 10 hectares and above and no subsidies can change this situation to any significant extent. Unproductive farm land cannot be sold as per the country's law even if the farmer wants to sell it off! There will be no buyer because of the restrictive clauses that the buyer must be a farmer and his income from non-agricultural activities must not be above Rs 2 lack per year! Is it not interesting as to how politicians and bureaucrats earning millions per year have active farms all over the country in violation of these rules? Another interesting or say nauseating rule is that scheduled caste owners of land cannot sell their land unless permitted by a babu in the government! Another restriction is that a farmer is barred from renting his land to another person even if he is not able to cultivate it economically. In China such renting out is freely allowed for the sake of increased production. Can the Indian farmer have salvation ever? No unless government brings about massive relaxation of these restrictions immediately. 

Cooperative farming is touted  as a possible route for land consolidation and application of modern technology in such cooperative farms but this has been tried previously and given up as impractical under Indian conditions! Why? If Tibetan refugees can convert the 5 acre land lots allotted to them into a 5000 acre cooperative farm and help the state to become the top producer of maize in the country, why not Indians do the same? Here again the problem lies with the land regulations which do not permit any formal linkages of land lots through a cooperative society! The only one crop that can still be managed with small holdings is sugarcane because of the high minimum support price government offers and high productivity in some of the sugar belts in the country. A hectare of land, with adequate irrigation can produce as much as 100 tons fetching an income of Rs 2.5 lakhs though the input costs are very high with sugar cane cultivation. Unfortunately these fortunate farmers in the sugar belt also suffer because of delayed payments by the sugar mill barons under one pretext or the other putting them in great economic hardships frequently. 

One relevant question even a child in this country can ask is when are these farmers going to quit agriculture if the land they own does not bring adequate returns for them to lead a decent life with dignity? With more than 15000 farmers taking the painful route of committing suicide to escape from the harsh future faced by them and their families under the prevailing Indian conditions, what else can wake up the conscience of people and pressurize the government to address the situation on an emergency basis? More than 50% of the arable land in the country depends on rains for agriculture as irrigated water is restricted to only about 82 million hectares! Water scarcity is another challenge India is facing because of low progress in  irrigation projects and rapid drying of ground water resources. This can only aggravate the conditions of farmers in perennially drought hit areas in the country.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Dietary changes, nutritional decline and economic improvement-Is there any relationship?

Do all the surveys and statistics doled out by the government agencies really reflect the ground reality? If there is a country in this planet where statistics can be grossly misleading, that is india! It may not be proper to condemn them as unrealistic and totally inaccurate as there can be some truth some where in such reports. The latest survey in India, findings of which have recently been published, tries to narrate a story which may not be 100% true. We all know that Indian economy is on a decent growth path and people do have money sufficient to fulfill some of their aspirations. The moot point is how badly or how properly this money is spent? If this survey is to be fully believed, the economic growth achieved has not translated into better food, better health and better nutrition. Probably such a broad conclusion may be on par with similar changes undergone by populations in other countries during their growth curve. Another conclusion which is significant tells about the wide disparity between the food intakes between rich and the poor which is natural because rich man can always buy more foods with better quality in terms of health and nutrition.  

There is a general perception that Indians are eating better foods over the last two decades, especially after the opening of the economy during nineteen nineties and naturally more income makes dairy products, eggs and meat, fruits and vegetables more affordable to most families. India's eating habits are bound to change and it should not be a surprise that such changes will be reflected in their health status also. However there appears to be a disconnect between such changes in food consumption and nutrition quality of the diets. To day people seem to be eating less cereals and indulging themselves with the increasing consumption of more and more fatty foods including fried snacks, sugar sweetened beverages and many unhealthy processed foods. Consequently protein levels in the diets have significantly declined, especially in rural regions.

What about the calories intake? The average calorific value of food consumed was 2,099 kilocalories (Kcal) per person per day in rural areas and 2,058 Kcal in urban areas in 2011 compared to the recommended level for normal health. This is less than the calorie values prevalent in 1993-94,viz, 2,153 kCal in rural areas and 2,099 kCal in urban areas. If we go by the national guidelines the recommended calorie intake 2320 Kcal per day for a man aged 18-29 years weighing 60 kg and doing sedentary work. The erstwhile Planning Commission had set a norm of 2,400 Kcal per person per day for the rural sector and 2,100 Kcal for the urban sector. These are averages for the whole country, which hide as much as they reveal. One aspect that is hidden in them is variations across states. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have nutritional levels that are almost 10% lower than the national average for rural areas while UP, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have levels 10 to 20% higher. 

Another much interesting revelation by the survey is that the huge difference in calorie intake between rich and the poor residing in rural regions of the country. For example a person belonging to the poorest 10% of population is consuming daily foods that can yield only 1724 kCal, 45g of protein and 24g of fat. In contrast a person from the richest 10% segment consumes more than 2,531 Kcal every day, almost 47% more than the poor person. A similar chasm can be seen in protein and fat consumption too. The survey has just reiterated the skewy nutrition landscape in the country though averages may gloss over this fundamental fault line. A moot question that begs for an answer is how far such "under eating" is impacting on the health of the poor folks in the country? Since no data is available regarding the incidences of diseases directly linked to under eating it may be far fetched to come to any conclusion in this regard. 

Probably it is time that the country takes a call on the nutritional needs of Indians without being biased by the western standards. The story of such countries provides a sad story as to what happens when the whole population gets hooked on to processed foods most of the calorie rich but imbalanced in terms of vital nutrients like dietary fiber, phytonutrients and whole foods without too much processing. If obesity, CVD, Blood Pressure diabetes and similar diseases are widely prevalent it can be attributed solely to unscientific diets, improper eating habits and sedentary life styles. It is relevant to recall the universally acknowledged scientific finding that a calorie restricted diet is invariably more healthy, being able to confer longevity of life. Could it be that our rural cousins are much better of with diets with lower calories than their urban counterparts? Probably true!.

Such views as stated above are bound to attract criticism about our bias against rural folks whose cause is supposed to be "dear" to the vote seeking politicians of the country. Nutritional science as we know to day, as propounded by the pundits in the ICMR prescribes what is optimum blend of food for leading a healthy life but whether these guidelines are universally applicable to all the people with different ethnic, cultural and social background is a gray area. While calorie needs may need some revision, the requirement of proteins, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, micro nutrients and dietary fiber may be relevant. There was a time when whole country was talking about protein malnutrition which later shifted to protein-calorie malnutrition with other deficiencies of nutrients like iodine, vitamin A etc. When nutrition and health issues are considered, average figures cannot work in a country like India with vastly divergent populations living in different geographical areas with different environmental conditions.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

The new breed of hawkers of groceries -The e-commerce retailers

Shopping for the daily needs of a typical household is a chore increasingly being shunned by many present day house wives who do not have either the time or the energy to wade through the busy streets of cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore etc. Imagine the old times when the nearby grocery stores served as a convenient place to shop for materials wanted by many families with least hassle. There are supposed to be over 8 million so called "mom and pop" stores in India catering to the needs of the 1.25 billion population in the country meeting every need of the families within their "captive" areas. One does not need any transportation facility to access these outlets as they are omnipotent every where in a city, often more than one operating from the same area.Many old timers have nostalgic memories about their childhood when the friendly "grocer" could satisfy every need of the family and to top it, materials can be got on credit of about 30 days because most salaried people get money in their hands on first of every month. Look at the transformation taking place in India at the market place with giant retailer chains trying to out pace the "kirana" stores in providing better products and service. Are they succeeding?

Though super market culture was introduced around the year 2000 with some of the industry houses like Reliance, Tata etc getting into retail business, their growth is some what limited and according to market experts they are not even able to capture 10% of the country's retail market in a decade and a half. Some of them have not been able to break even even to day while a few others have folded up their business. Then came the much hyped FDI foray into Indian retail landscape recently and the new policy of allowing 100% foreign investment in single brand retailing has not been able to attract many significant international companies. Collaboration with Indian investors for multi brand retailing also did not bring in much investment in this sector. Why this has happened in spite of all predictions to the contrary?

One of the lessons to be drawn from this fiasco is that hundreds of years of culture in a conservative country like India cannot be expected to change in a short time and very high expectations were placed on the development of super market culture in the country without realizing that such super markets would never be able to compete with the "kirana' stores in terms of giving credit and personalized services to which Indian consumer has been used to. Of course with credit card use becoming very common in many urban areas, purchases made using them is based on a deferred payment mode. But the mechanical nature of vending in super markets manned by impersonal workers can be the big dampener in the adoption of this format in the country. Also of concern is the "guided" buying or "forced" buying of goods stocked by the super market in stead of the brands preferred by the consumer which is not liked by many consumers. In contrast the kirana shops know what their clients want and offer the same readily.

Having made not much progress with organized super market strategy, an alternate approach is being tried in India using the vast internet route to sell groceries to net-savvy families which may be numbering in millions across the metropolitan regions in the country. Popularly called as e-retailers or e-grocers, a few players have succeeded beyond expectation in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Though this sector is in its infancy, the growth rate seems to be very impressive.and their potential business by the year 2020 is estimated to be Rs 1000 crore but it may exceed this target if the present going is any indication. May be the conservative image associated with Indian consumer is getting an image make over for which the new younger generational IT professionals are to be thanked. What is of concern is the sustainability of this trend if government does not support these ventures and starts imposing excessive regulatory controls on their working. Already some of these players are being hauled up by state governments on taxation issues, imposing punitive damages. However this nascent sector is confident of surviving these teething troubles through dialog with the governments.

Groceries can include perishables as well as durables which are in demand on a regular basis. While perishables like fruits, vegetables and other commodities are risky items to be handled because of their tendency to lose quality with lapse of time, others like detergents, soap bars, hygiene products, cleaning paraphernalia are easier to store and distribute. How do the e-grocers manage the procurement and delivery of these items without losing the quality and freshness associated with them? These items require scientific handling and temperature controlled storage systems to reduce quality deterioration between procurement and delivery. There are about a dozen serious players in the e-grocery sector including Bigbasket, Localbanya, Ekstop, Aaramshop, naturebasket and Greencart  sharing the market and only a couple of them have the minimum necessary infrastructure to manage perishable commodities. Fortunately for them the consumer complaints have been insignificant as their delivery efficiency is invariably above 98%. Some of them deliver the orders within a few hours, in spite of the traffic chaos that is the hall mark of cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Another imponderable factor is the trust of the on-line buyer on the quality of fruits and vegetables ordered as in India there is no established quality overseeing of farm products and regular washing and grading systems. Indian consumers, at least most of them are fussy in choosing their food items and "seeing" and "feeling" the product is a national trait embedded in their psyche! If so how do they trust the supplier to deliver the products as per their expectations? Answer to this perplexing question lies in the fact that many youngsters of to day are different from their earlier generation in that they have very little inkling about the common quality attributes of fresh produce and have to depend on the supplier to do the job. After all they know that the dynamics of marketing depends on the customer satisfaction and they can always switch over to other suppliers under a competitive regime.     

Looking at the entrepreneurs who jumped into e-retailing we have to admire their courage of conviction as doing any business in India is fraught with risks of freaking out because of the difficult environment they have to work in. Unlike big international e-marketeers such as Amazon who work very successfully in countries with high quality infrastructure, manufacturing discipline and unimaginable honesty, in India all these three virtues are on a premium. Extraordinary courage, incurable optimism and unparalleled determination and perseverance are needed to succeed in India and since most of them have survived at least for the last 2-3 years they can rightly be called the pioneers showing the way to others. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Midday meal program in India-Whose interest it is serving?

 For the last several days in Karnataka, news papers were full of reports regarding the mid day school lunch program in a small village near Mysore where caste politics have caused considerable damage to the teaching environment there. The issue,  raised by this "storm in the tea cup" incidence as some people like to call it, poses a pertinent question regarding the very foundation of the concept of national school feeding programs across all the states. A honest citizen always wonders why the government is resorting to universal feeding in schools forcing all children attending a school where such a program is running to eat the "foods" cooked inside the school premises even if many of them can afford bringing good nutritious food from their home. The excuse for this program has been to try 100% attendance in the school as a part of right to education for every citizen. But the experience in this Karnataka village brings out starkly the anomaly of the program and in the face of some children refusing to eat the foods cooked in the school, authorities concerned were at a loss as to what to do next! 

Indian constitution confers on a citizen, even if he is a school going kid, the basic right to what he wants to eat or not to eat and therefore making it compulsory for all kids to eat the locally cooked foods, whatever be the reason, is coercive and unconstitutional. The "circus" going in this school to gloss over the issue is really amusing. Big politicians, religious saints and others are visiting this school and eating the same food as that being eaten by the students to show case their commitment to a "caste-less" society! The real issue is not caste or creed but the acceptability of the food to all children in the school. Why those who do not like the school foods should be "finger pointed" is baffling. In stead of making eating environment hygienic and clean, wrong emphasis is laid on eating only one food cooked locally! 

In another case reported from the city of Meerut in UP, teachers in a government school refused to eat the locally foods as they felt they are inedible! What logic is there in forcing the same food down through the throat of the hapless children is not clear. According to the rules prevalent governing school foods service, teachers are mandated to taste them before serving the same to the children and this is observed more in breach than adherence. If the teachers cannot eat the food how can the school authorities expect the children to accept them unless coercion is used. Shamelessly the school management routinely claims that complaints filed with higher authorities are routinely ignored and the situation continues, totally insensitive to the welfare of the kids! Does not this amount to criminal negligence on the part of the education department officials and local school management? Is there no solution to this systemic failure? Is it not a national blemish about which every Indian must hang his head in shame?

The concept of midday school feeding program is a novel idea, no doubt but the way it is practiced in the country needs reexamination. Every school must enroll voluntarily the names of kids wanting to be served with food during the lunch time. This should be based on economic criteria rather than on universal basis. Probably inertia on the part of the government in conducting surveys to identify families with low income who deserve free lunch in the school has resulted in opting for an easy recourse to giving food to every body without caring for the waste of resources on a worthless cause. In India there is considerable extent of suppression of income data by the citizens to get the benefit of many subsidies doled out by the governments at the central and state levels and this habit must be curbed as mercilessly as possible for the sake of the country and its honest law abiding citizens.. 

This Blogger has been raising the issue of school feeding during the last 30 years and always frowned upon the the "fresh food serving" lobby which has a powerful vested interest in making a fast buck from such programs through politician-bureaucrat-private contractor nexus. The meager budget for the food program reflects the sham that is being perpetuated in the name of education, social equity and poverty. In spite of some crazy politicians claiming that one can get a sumptuous meat for Rs 5 in this country, the ground reality is totally different. With rice costing Rs 50 per kg, edible oil price beyond Rs 70 per liter, Milk being sold at more than Rs 30 a liter, wheat flour available at prices more than Rs 40 per kg and egg Rs 5 a piece, what nutritious food can be served in the school at the ridiculously low budget of Rs 5 per head. A complete meal must have 16% proteins, at least about 400 kC of energy and adequate micro nutrients that will meet at least 50% of daily Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). If government wants to do justice to its school feeding program it has to double its present budget if 100% of kids in all schools are to be covered. Is it feasible? 

Another mind boggling issue is how advisable it is to make the school assume responsibility associated with raw material procurement, their safe storage, cooking within the premises with crude cooking facilities, accessing safe potable water, arranging for cooking fuel etc. With most schools grossly understaffed, is it fair to load the available teachers with additional burden of looking after the feeding program? No wonder instances like that in Meerut city keep happening all over the country. Food technologists, Nutritionists, medical practitioners, policy makers and industry reps must sit together to evolve a more credible and reassuring programs that will depend on packed foods, centrally manufactured and safety packed with minimum nutritional value and stable shelf life which are amenable to easy distribution, stocking, accounting, serving with minimum risk to the health of the children. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

The diabetic dilemma - A complex disorder with diverse dimensions

Is it not shocking when we are told that in this planet one human being dies every 6 seconds because of diabetes and complications arising from this scourge? The staggering figure of 384 million people being affected in his world by diabetes is indeed disturbing and look at the death rate-1.5 million (mn) dying because of this disease every year. How come this so called metabolic syndrome was allowed to creep in slowly without being taken seriously a few years ago? Probably adequate knowledge might not have been available then to understand unambiguously the basic reasons for human beings to develop diabetes. Progress in medical science and human physiology has created a fund of knowledge regarding various causes that can be responsible for spreading of metabolic syndrome in practically every country in this globe.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar are prominent countries where those affected by diabetes is as high as 20-24% of their population. That means 1 in 5 citizens suffers from this disease. According to the WHO the diabetic is expected to be prevalent among 600 million people by the year 2035. What about India? While as a percentage of the population it is small, about 5%, in absolute numbers, this country can be called the diabetic capital of the world. From 31.7 mn in the year 2000, the number of diabetics has jumped to 62 mn in 2014 which is predicted to reach almost 80 mn by 2030. India, China and the US have most diabetics compared to other countries though in terms of percentage figures, these countries have relatively less affected by diabetes measured per thousand population. Though statistics can be quite revealing, what is not understood is why some are more vulnerable while others are immune to this disorder, considered a life style disease caused by sedentary living conditions giving no scope for the body to expend the calories consumed through physical activities. 

If one asks the crucial question as to what is really responsible for this surge in diabetic population, the most common answer would be "obesity". According to present understanding about diabetes, over weight and obesity contribute to insulin insensitivity leading to a condition when body finds it difficult to push glucose into the cells where it is supposed to be converted to energy. However a closer look at the situation will reveal that obesity cannot be the sole factor causing diabetes. In the US there are almost 100 million obese people while the diabetic population is only 23 mn and it will reach a figure of 30 mn only by 2030. Similarly China the second largest obesity prone country has 46 mn cases of obesity whereas its diabetic population is only 30 mn. The third ranked India on obesity scale with 30 mn people suffering from obesity, has a whopping number of diabetics, viz 62 million. Thus it is difficult to establish a direct linkage between obesity and diabetes. There must be other reasons for developing diabetes which need to be looked into.

Three new studies carried out fairly recently have brought to surface the role of genetic make up, disturbed Amylin hormone cycle and disturbances in the body's natural circadian clock  Qualitatively some conclusions can be drawn regarding the role of genes and mutations undergone by them. The fact that certain ethnic groups are more prone to diabetes than others has been pointed out in support of genetic factors influencing the onset of diabetes. The inherent contradiction, that some lean people get diabetes while many over weight people are protected from diabetes, cannot be explained easily unless we fall back on genetic factors. A probable interpretation could be that the diabetes can occur with a 50:50 chance determined by family history and life styles followed by different people.

Those who contend that gene factor is important cite the 9 variations possible in the gene PPARG which has some influence on obesity development and which is not strictly related to BMI. Building up of fat around abdomen in some people who do not appear to be "fat" to look at, can be explained only though the above basis. Decreased function of PPARG can simulate such a condition. According to this school of thought diabetes that is seen in India and Pakistan is of this type. This is reflected by the fact that in India obesity is much less as a proportion to diabetic population than that found in the US and China. Diabetics to obese population in the US, China and India are 23:100:,30:40 and 62: 30 respectively reflecting the difference found in the above countries. 

The Amylin hormone produced by pancreas works in conjunction with insulin and plays a role in preventing over production or under utilization of insulin affecting glucose levels in the blood plasma. According to those who support the theory of Amylin hormone's role in developing diabetes, too much production of this hormone can get deposited around pancreas as toxic clumps causing death of insulin producing cells. This theory lacks precise scientific evidence regarding the cause of Amylin over production though it is thought to be related to inactivation of concerned enzymes involved in the metabolism of Amylin. But the qualitative finding as reported recently cannot be brushed away easily. Further studies can only throw more light on this aspect related to development of diabetes, at least among some people, not vulnerable to obesity.

The Circadian clock theory also appears rational though the evidence generated so far is with mice as subjects. The finding that during the night when mice are active, they showed high insulin efficiency to burn the foods they consumed into energy while in the same mice during day time when they sleep, their insulin resistance increases leading to accumulation of fat and weight gain. Insulin after all is  the driving tool for pushing glucose in the blood into liver, muscle and other cells. Mice population in which the gene responsible for circadian rhythm is knocked out were found to develop insulin resistance and consequently gained weight abnormally. Same thing was found when they were exposed to uninterrupted light for 24 hours upsetting their circadian rhythm. If such a phenomenon is confirmed by clinical trials with humans, it provides logical explanation for the vulnerability people working in night shifts and others ignoring the normal sleep cycle to diabetes more often. 

The above three findings throw lot of insight into diabetes epidemic the world is facing and must serve as a guide to future development for appropriate therapy to deal with this disease in the coming years. While diabetes related to genetic factors will have to be dealt with at the genetic level involving gene manipulating intervention drugs,  Amylin therapy to reduce insulin resistance will have to work at the enzyme level and circadian clock disruption will need to be avoided to pre empt this causing diabetes. The world is headed for an exciting era ahead when more precise and reliable drug therapy may emerge based on the latest findings. 

Beware, a person looking lean need not be free from diabetes while another person looking obese may be really non-diabetic!  

V.H.POTTY

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