"The real estate boom has enticed farmers to sell out, turning themselves into millionaires overnight while, at the same time, supply has of agricultural produce has dropped.

"So you have on one hand a lot of money flooding the market while supply has reduced. If you want a luxury car costing 20 lakh rupees [Ed: 2m rupees ($42,750)] or more you have to wait for delivery-such is the cash in people's hand.

"Considering that much of the agricultural land surrounding the cities has been plotted piecemeal and sold for investment purposes, the price rise comes as no great surprise. What does come as a surprise is the lack of any attempt on the part of government to fight the rise by releasing buffer stocks or to talk the prices down.

" Worryingly too, there is no talk of agricultural reform. I did see it reported that government had acknowledged, the need to finance the farmer, so that they do not fall into the clutches of money lenders and this, if implemented, will improve matters a great deal. That it took the government so long to acknowledge this simple financial reality of the farmer, shows how low the farmer is, in the priorities of the government. This is incomprehensible and the delay, in correction of this anomaly, has led to this price surge in food prices.

"A good monsoon which falls on malls, gated housing communities, SEZs and factories (which had been alloted agricultural land by the government such as TATAs car project) is unlikely to affect food prices.
"Indian industry has become world class because of it's own ingenuity and government may have been expecting that Indian agriculture may do something similar. The Indian people are now paying, and many starving, because of that misplaced expectation.

"The lack of any credible alternative to the party in power, has made Congress complacent but any voter backlash because of inflation will turn the political landscape very murky. Lack of competition is not good and, if it occurs in politics, may be disastrous, for the country's longer term well being."

David Fuller's view Thank you so much for these fascinating insights.