-Hindustan Times Planting of key kharif or summer-sown crops, which account for half of the country’s annual food output, was 1.5% lower on August 26 compared to last year, according to farm ministry data India’s food output is likely to fall after six straight record harvests, as extreme weather dented sowing of crops, such as rice and pulses, raising concerns about inflation and tight supplies, data from the farm ministry indicates. Planting of...

-Livemint.com We must raise procurement to prepare for a possible rise in inflation as global food supplies shrink Recent data on inflation suggests a softening of the trend of rising inflation in retail prices. Much of the inflation this year has been driven by rising food prices, particularly edible oil and more recently cereals, primarily wheat. This has followed the global trend in food prices, which softened last month, even though they...

-Business Standard A victim of supply chain disruption is food. Even as the world looks towards India to fill the void created by the Russia-Ukraine war, a drop in paddy acreage is threatening to make the matter worse Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and amid challenges for global food supply, PM Narendra Modi declared that India was capable of "feeding the world". However, instead of feeding the world, the govt soon restricted...

-The Hindu Business Line Experts say current manual methods are error-prone, moot scientific process The advance crop estimate made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare usually differs between the first and subsequent three ones before it comes out with the final estimate. However, the difference has seldom caused problems in the agricultural markets or led to complaints of not reflecting what the trade has felt is the ground reality. But some...

-Livemint.com An uneven distribution of rainfall has left several key rice-producing states parched even as others had to battle excess water The patchy progress of the southwest monsoon this year has cast a long shadow on India’s kharif crop produce, particularly of rice, which is an important constituent of the government’s food distribution programmes. The threat comes right after wheat production in the rabi season took a hit from heatwaves and at...