US cereal consumption growth greater than India: FAO

Even as US President George Bush blamed Chinese and Indians for global food crisis, the latest FAO report says the growth in cereal consumption in the US was the highest in the world in 2007-08. Consumption of foodgrains by Americans has grown at a much faster rate during 2007-08 than just about two per cent by Indians and the Chinese, according to the “Global Food Market Report” of the Food and Agricultural Organisation.

The foodgrains consumption in the US is estimated to have increased to 310.4 million tonnes in 2007-08 from 277.6 million tonnes in the previous year, showing a jump of 11.81 per cent. In contrast, the consumption in India is estimated to have grown by a mere 2.17 per cent to 197.3 million tonnes from 193.1 million tonnes. In China the growth was 1.8 per cent to 389.1 million tonnes from the previous 382.2 million tonnes. The growth in foodgrains consumption is quite low in China and India, compared to the scorching pace at which their economies have been expanding. The Chinese economy has consistently been growing between 10 and 11 per cent while India has average over 8.5 per cent GDP growth for the last four years.