-The Indian Express Prices crashed last year because there was a glut in imports during a year of record production. Government has not corrected the policy snags that led to this anomaly. Pulses are an interesting and unique commodity group in the Indian agri-food space. The country ranks first not only in their production and consumption, but also their import. Domestic absorption in recent years (2012-13 to 2015-16) has hovered between 21...

-Down to Earth In a major digression from the current discourse on GM crops, the report claimed that the farmers in India have “enthusiastically embraced” GM seeds For the first time since the five-year plans were scrapped, the NITI Aayog presented the three-year action plan last week. The report, which draws on recommendations made by the Task Force on Agricultural Development and a group of secretaries appointed by PM Modi at...

-The Hindu Business Line At an organic market in Odisha, middle-class consumers get to interact with the producers of their food and appreciate traditional knowledge systems One Sunday morning in January, I visited an organic produce market located amidst dense bougainvillea creepers and rows of trees, on the grounds of the six-decade-old Christian Hospital in Bissamcuttack, a town in western Odisha’s Rayagada district. In policy and public imagination, Odisha, particularly its western districts...

-The Indian Express The woes of pulses farmers and traders like Kagi can be put down to all-time-high imports of 6.6 mt (valued at Rs 28,524.05 crore) on top of a record domestic production of 22.4 mt in 2016-17 — made worse by the weak, behind-the-curve policy response whether to do with trade or stockholding restrictions. Agriculture in India has always suffered from lethargic and uncoordinated policy response. And there can be...

-The Financial Express The state of India’s rural economy is puzzling. There is enough evidence to support both opposing statements: one, that the rural economy has improved, and two, that the rural economy is in the doldrums. Some macro indicators have improved, though. The rural unemployment rate has been falling, while rural wages have been rising, particularly on a real basis. Alongside, indicators such as two-wheeler sales and consumer non-durables production...