Farming policies

amp;149; The partys coalition government banned exports of most grades of rice,causing global prices to rise; opened the doors for massive sugar imports,raising international prices; banned futures trade in some farm commodities under pressure from allies; and also hoisted global wheat prices when it ordered imports in 2006 and 2007.

amp;149; Its election manifesto dwells on populist steps like giving cheap rice and wheat to the poor and introducing crop insurance. It does not hint at significant changes in the farm policy it has adopted in the past five years,but analysts say its track record is a good indicator of what it might do.

amp;149; Controlling inflation and preventing food shortages has been a key plank of its farm policy,making it trigger-happy in restricting exports of wheat,rice and corn even though some analysts said the country had adequate stocks.

amp;149; During its rule,the prices paid by government agencies to farmers for grain have increased much faster than the previous government that was led by the BJP.

amp;149; Congress says its policies to give higher prices to farmers and success in crushing inflation to nearly zero will more than offset concerns of the economic slowdown as two-thirds of Indias 1.1 billion people live in villages and depend on farms for their livelihood. Its manifesto promises to make farming profitable.

amp;149; Economists say the government was lucky that the country received good monsoon rains for four of the five years it ruled. In the fifth year although rains were unevenly distributed,there was no major loss in production. If rainfall is inadequate,it may rush to import grain or clamp down on exports.

amp;149; The government has indicated that it has enough stocks of wheat and this years bumper harvest will make stocks almost unmanageable,but it said the decision to resume exports will have to be taken by the new government.

BJP

amp;149; The mainfesto promises food security and criticises the Congress government for making India a food importer.

amp;149; It wants to build food stocks,indicating a lesser inclination to export farm commodities.

amp;149; It says steps to boost food security would involve: Ensuring a sufficient level of food stocks are maintained to meet any exigencies due to possible global food crisis which could be severely debilitating,and making imports prohibitively expensive,if not impossible.

amp;149; It promises to allow genetically modified seeds after scientific trials. Use of such seeds for cotton cultivation has been a success in India,but so far,any move to extend this to staples has evoked strong resistance from volunteer groups.

amp;149; Like the Congress party,the BJP also promises crop insurance and cheap grains for the poor.

amp;149; Its manifesto say the party will waive agricultural loans,a step already taken with fanfare by the Congress-led government.

CPIM

amp;149; It will curb grain purchases by domestic and foreign firms and wants to strengthen the Food Corporation of India FCI,which buys grains at government-set prices from farmers for subsidised distribution to the poor.

amp;149; It will ban futures trading in all agricultural commodities. When it was an ally of the Congress-led coalition government,it goaded the ruling party to take strong steps to control inflation,and was instrumental in banning futures trade in several commodities including wheat and rice.

amp;149; Stringent steps agains hoarding of essential commodities.

amp;149; Strengthening disclosure norms for private stocks of grain in warehouses.

amp;149; Higher wages for farm workers.