Livemint Wheat prices have started climbing again despite the government launching open market operations to reain in prices of the crucial commodity due to the unseasonal rains in key what-producing states. Wheat prices had shot up by 15% in 2022 accoding to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, even before the OMOs. This comes as retail inflation continues to hover above the Reserve Bank of India's upper tolerance level,...

Reuters Unseasonal rains and hailstorms have damaged ripening, winter-planted crops such as wheat in India's fertile northern, central and western plains, exposing thousands of farmers to losses and raising the risk of further food price inflation. Torrential rains on Sunday and Monday lashed Punjab, Haryana parts of Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh state, which account for the bulk of wheat output in India, the world's biggest producer after China, flattening crops and...

CNBC TV18 The Centre has allowed an early procurement of wheat procurement by states to avert the possibility of any distress sale by farmers. Despite the pre-monsoon rains increasing moisture content in the rabi crop, government sources have maintained that the procurement cycle is on track and there hasn't been any adverse climatic impact on wheat harvest or supply so far. While government sources indicated that wheat procurement in Madhya Pradesh will...

The government has fixed a wheat procurement target of 34.15 million tonnes for the 2023-24 marketing year starting April, higher than 18.79 million tonnes purchased in the previous year. The target was fixed in the meeting of state food secretaries held alongside state food ministers’ conference here to discuss procurement arrangements.  Out of the total wheat procurement target for the 2022-23 marketing year (April-March), Punjab will aim to procure 2.5 million...

On 6 February, 2023 Southern Turkey and the adjoining areas in Syria were hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake followed by several aftershocks. The tremors have flattened buildings and destroyed roads and other infrastructure. At least 35,000 casualties (UPDATE) have occurred across Turkey and Syria, with the vast majority being in the former nation. A news report cited the Turkish environment minister saying that 24,921 buildings across the region had collapsed. What...