-The Business Standard Despite a marked improvement in the southwest monsoon, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said production of coarse cereals, pulses, oilseeds and rice, to some extent, would be less than last year. For sugar, the cane area is more. But, Pawar said, some drop in production can be expected as farmers in Karnataka and Maharashtra have diverted a sizeable portion of standing crop towards fodder. Announcing the second relief package...

Industrialisation of agriculture creates hunger and malnutrition, destroying the food web to which we all belong. Hunger and malnutrition is manmade. It is in the design of the industrial chemical model of agriculture. And just as hunger has been created by design, producing healthy and nutritious food for all can be designed through food democracy. That is what we do in Navdanya. That is what the diverse movements for food sovereignty...

-The Economic Times A late revival of monsoon may have narrowed the rain deficit to single digit (9%) but it is unlikely to help boost food grains production. "There would be a decline in the overall food grains production. There would be some drop in the production of pulses and coarse cereals," said Agriculture Secretary Ashish Bahuguna. He said the indication will start coming after the first advance estimates of the kharif...

-The Hindu Centre mulling alternative crops The Union Government is looking at the possibility of replacing rice crop in Punjab and Haryana with alternative crops such as pulses, fodder and oilseeds that help in nitrogen fixation. The water-intensive rice cultivation over the years has become unsustainable in these two States and the water table has fallen to precarious levels. Giving this information to members of Parliament’s Consultative Committee for his Ministry, Agriculture Minister...

-The Business Standard Cautious optimism about the revival of the monsoon  A progressive improvement in the monsoon, after a dismal June that saw rainfall deficient by over 30 per cent, has eased some worries over kharif crop production. Since then the rainfall deficit has been halved to 15 per cent, dispelling fears of a situation as bad as in 2009, when severe drought lowered foodgrain production by seven per cent. In addition,...