May 14, 2007

India's Supreme Court might ban near-term wheat imports
 

India's Supreme Court might quash the government's decision to import 1 million tonnes of wheat by July 2007, following a challenge by Vandana Shiva, head of 'Navdanya', a non-governmental organisation that supports genetic and output diversity in farming and rural ecosystems.

A three-judge panel has pushed forward the hearing to May 17 from the original August hearing date. This will come ahead of the tender closing date of May 21 fixed by the State Trading Corporation.

Shiva alleged that the government's wheat import policy would compromise India's food security as wheat imported in 2006 was of poor quality.

The green activist has also called for multinational companies and private traders to be barred from directly procuring wheat from farmers, as they were "hoarding it and then selling it at exorbitant prices."

Shiva added that further wheat imports were unnecessary for now due to 53,000 tonnes of contracted wheat remaining unused at ports throughout the country.

Meanwhile, Shiva has sought a direction to the government requesting it to pay farmers more for their produce instead of importing low quality wheat at exorbitant prices, to discourage farmers from selling wheat directly to multinational companies.

The government has extended the deadline for contracting wheat to Aug 15.