Bush's comment on food crisis "completely erroneous": Congress - Yahoo! India News

Bush's comment on food crisis "completely erroneous": Congress - Yahoo! India News

Bush's comment on food crisis "completely erroneous": Congress

Sat, May 3 05:55 PM

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The Congress today criticised US President George W Bush for blaming the rising prosperity of India's middle class for the global food crisis, saying the analysis was "completely erroneous" as India is not a food importer but a food exporter. "The facts speak otherwise.

India is a not a net food importer. It is a food exporter.

The assumption that local prices are increasing because of a changed India is completely erroneous," AICC spokesperson Manish Tewari told PTI here. "The crisis is actually because of diversion of arable land in the developed world for ethanol production and because of changes in the climate pattern," he said.

He said if the food consumption in the country has increased, it has been met with enhanced production. "In the 70's, the then Government under the leadership of Indira Gandhi ushered in the first Green Revolution that made us self-sufficient in food.

Since then, the country has not looked back and is now at the cusp of a second Green Revolution," Tewari said. He added that efforts were being made to enhance the rate of growth of agricultural production to four per cent in the next four years.

Bush joined US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in blaming the rising prosperity of India's huge middle class for the spiraling global food prices. Prosperity in countries like India is "good" but it triggers increased demand for "better nutrition" which in turn leads to higher food prices, Bush said.