Russia has announced a temporary ban on wheat exports. This is of course not entirely unanticipated. Today, soon after the Russian Prime Minister reportedly announced a temporary grain export ban, prices were seen rising further. Drought conditions have threatened Russian wheat harvest. From record 63.7 million tonnes in 2008-09, wheat production declined by two million tonnes the following year. Drought is now threatening to pull output down to around 50 mt. Russia's wheat exports...

The legacy of Industrial Agriculture With the world population passing the 6 billion mark last October, the debate over our ability to sustain a fast growing population is heating up. Biotechnology advocates in particular are becoming very vocal in their claim that there is no alternative to using genetically modified crops in agriculture if "we want to feed the world". Actually, that quote might be true. It depends what they mean...

At a time political trade unions are struggling to get a foothold in the country’s mammoth unorganised sector, there’s a new entrant in the field: the Catholic Church. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has launched a national labour union, the Workers’ India Federation (WIF), focusing on “unorganised” workers. The motto of the union, formed after a three-day workshop in Bangalore in May, is: “Secure Worker, Strong Nation.’’ The union is...

They express shock at reports that it has been finalised Discussions still on to decide the final shape of Bill Recommendations made to NAC “non-negotiable” Even as the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) is holding consultations with a cross-section of civil society groups to evolve consensus on the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, so that their suggestions can be incorporated in the final text, before it is brought...

The US Senate is expected to pass the Global Food Security Act, new legislation that would significantly expand the government's commitment to combating hunger worldwide with a broad range of measures and more money, and a special coordinator, or "food czar", to oversee implementation of these provisions across agencies. A proposed new fund would allocate several billion dollars over five years to research and development, to enhance "food security, agriculture productivity,...