Faced with soaring food prices for the second time in three years, senior United Nations experts today called for greater investment in agriculture from both the public and private sectors to increase smallholder productivity.   “Policy-related solutions are also required to increase the longer-term resilience of global agriculture to allow greater levels of supply to markets as demand grows,” UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Senior Economist Jamie Morrison told a meeting...

The commerce department has urged policymakers to lift export curbs on all varieties of non-basmati rice, which will ensure parity in the treatment of rice producers across the country. Earlier this month, the government allowed export of 1.5 lakh tonnes of the premium varieties Sona Masoori, Ponni and Matta, all grown in the southern states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The department has communicated to the empowered...

Record high food prices are putting added pressure on the United Nations agency that helps feed nearly 100 million of the world’s poorest people, with officials warning of a potential “perfect storm” combination of soaring costs, weather emergencies and political instability. “We are on red alert and we are continually assessing needs and reassessing plans and stand ready to assist,” UN World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Josette Sheeran told the...

Rising food prices pushed tens of millions of people into extreme poverty last year and are reaching "dangerous levels" in some countries, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Tuesday as he released new data showing that the cost of grain and other staples is near a historic high. The costs of some key commodities such as wheat have doubled in the past year, and a World Bank index of overall food...

Onion prices continued to slide in the wholesale market at Gultekdi Market Yard on Monday due to excess supply of the commodity, prompting farmers to stage strong protest demanding higher procurement price by commission agents. Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) The agitation started early in the morning and farmers disrupted supply of vegetables and other commodities to the wholesale market. They were called for a meeting by the commission agents...