Farm reforms will dispel fears of global food inflation

When Unilever’s global CEO Paul Polman says that the era of cheap food is over, he seems to be making sense. After all, for nearly 20 years now, India has been growing 6.7% on average every year; for 30 years, China’s growth has averaged 10% every year. A lot of people now require more than subsistence needs. The growth of food production hasn’t quite kept pace, because governments’ priorities have been elsewhere.

So, Polman reckons that food prices will rise 2% to 3% every year. Yet, things might not be so dire after all. In India, a second green revolution is waiting for the right nudges to take off. The first made India self-sufficient in grains; now a grain mountain of over 50 million tonnes towers in government storage. The second green revolution will boost output and productivity of vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and milk.

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