UN SECERETARY-General’s article on the emerging food crisisis is short, simple and focused well on the root cause of the issue. All the time we are neglecting the farmers. It is not because of the increased demand from the billions middle class in India, China as George Bush stated at Missourie.

The entire world is neglecting and exploiting farmers who are working hard on the farms under extreme weather conditions just to fill our dining tables everyday with aromatic food.

The farmers are exploited by middlemen and they never get a decent price for their produce, thus several Third World countries have witnessed suicides by farmers and this includes India.

Today a metric ton of Indian Basmati rice is sold in the international market for around US$1200. This used to cost around $600 about a year ago. Though lentils and oil seeds cost a few thousand dollars a ton it will be very interesting know how much farmers are being paid for their produce.

Peanuts, perhaps? Industrialisation, urbanisation and continuous escalation of input costs (pesticides and fertilisers) have also forced many farmers to sell their lands.

The developed countries and economic powers like Opec can do a lot to solve the issue.

Opec must realise that increasing oil prices will definitely force all oil importing countries to use more and more land for farming the bio-fuel seeds like Jetrofa. If the rise in oil prices continues, there is a likelihood of grain-exporting nations forming a cartel and dictating the price of grains and cereals. Today we live in a global village and to exist we have to share and care.