-MoneyLife.in India, the world's second largest food producer, is witnessing growing distress and declining confidence in agriculture as most small and landless farmers, with less of a stake, are found to quit farming The recent unseasonal heavy rains, thunder and hailstorms originating from unusually intense western disturbances from the Mediterranean interacting with the south-easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal have ravaged the due-for-harvesting chana, lentils and wheat in Madhya Pradesh,...

-The Hindu Environmental activist Vandana Shiva says the real motives behind GMOs are the patents and royalties that come with it Two things happened in 1984, begins environmental activist Vandana Shiva. One was Operation Blue star and the second, the riots following the assassination of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. "Something happened before Operation Blue Star and that story doesn't get told, that is the story of the Green Revolution," said Shiva,...

-Outlook As subsidies for the poor continue to be under attack, a ground-up report from 10-states shows how well welfare schemes have worked over the last 10 years. Ahead of Elections 2014, rights-based welfare schemes are under attack. To those who argue ‘Dolenomics' doesn't work, a survey of five schemes in 10 states shows that the Rs 1,68,478 crore annually the nation spends is making a real and tangible difference on...

-Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) The official Wholesale Price Index for ‘All Commodities' (Base: 2004-05 = 100) for the month of February, 2014 has remained unchanged at its previous month level of 178.9 (provisional). INFLATION The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 4.68% (provisional) for the month of February, 2014 (over February,2013) as compared to 5.05% (provisional) for the previous month and 7.28% during the corresponding...

-The Business Standard Inflation has cooled in recent months but the next monsoon holds the key. With fear of an El Niño effect impacting it, academicians and policy makers are worried about the possible impact on farm output and food inflation. Prabhu Pingali, director of the Tata-Cornell Agriculture and Nutrition Initiative at Cornell University and former director of the agricultural and development economics division of the Food and Agriculture Organization,...