The world has suddenly been taken unawares by a food crisis. On a local level we are all witness to rising inflation levels where food prices have shot up. Family budgets are being stretched and in certain parts of the world there are food riots taking place.

One of the most basic necessities of life is food. There has always been speculation that one day the earth will run out of food. That the growth in population will outstrip the maximum capability that earth has, to produce food. That is a possibility some day in the future, but today is not that day.

There are many causes to the current crisis being faced. Some are man-made and some are natural:

The rain fall was not adequate last year and so less food was produced in many parts of the world. There is widespread hoarding of food, which spins the price cycle even further. There is enormous wastage of food as well all around the world, especially in the more prosperous parts where there was food a-plenty a short time ago. Entangled with all these factors is also the Bio-Fuel phenomenon.

Valuable resources of land and edible crops e.g: maize are being diverted to produce Bio-fuels. This has fuelled the food crisis further. Solutions to this crisis are being tossed around, there are debates. However these debates are largely esoteric in nature. Little of a practical nature is being done to make sure that conditions on the ground improve.

There are human lives at stake here. Policies and also human behavior has to change rapidly to be able to contain the crisis.

First, the entire Bio-fuel strategy has to be re-thought. Bio-fuels have to be devised, not the edible parts but from plant waste material or the by-products or the inedible parts. In this way the farmer will be able to realize that much more profit. We need technology that focuses on reusing and recycling resources.

As agricultural land is increasingly being diverted either for industrial purposes or for bio-fuel, there have to be studies on this and there should be data that lets us know exactly how much arable land is necessary for sustainability.

Where there is arable land sometimes, farmers cannot farm their lands due to the prohibitive costs of fertilizer. In these cases they should be encouraged to switch to organic farming or natural farming, where something as cheap and easily available cow-dung can be used as excellent fertilizer.

This would be better for the farmer, better for the land, for the aquifers and also for the end consumer of the products if harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides were not used in food. New healthy ways of farming that actually hark back to age old natural techniques have to be introduced to back ward areas. This is the only way to ensure that plenty of healthy food is produced in a sustainable eco-friendly way for years to come.

Food is the base on which existence rests. It’s time we all looked at the basis of food production more seriously. to safe guard our future.