The Hindu Businessline With the Centre’s initiative, the UN General Assembly declared 2023 as the international year of millets. Nutri-cereal crops or millets are the main sources of micronutrients such as calcium, fibre, protein, iron, etc. Given the higher level of micronutrient deficiencies among the large population of India, the continuous reduction in area under nutri-cereals can pose a threat to nutritional security. Recognising the importance of these crops as well as popularizing...

Deutsche Welle/The Telegraph El Nino, a natural climate phenomenon that alters global weather patterns, has officially returned after four years, threatening to exacerbate already elevated food inflation. Growing warnings about El Nino have already helped coffee, sugar and cocoa prices to rise sharply in recent weeks, Germany's biggest private lender, Deutsche Bank, said in a research note last week. Other food commodities are expected to follow as harvests get impacted by severe...

Wholesale price-based inflation rate declined by (-) 3.48 per cent in May, a 3-year low, on easing prices of food, fuel and manufactured items. The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation rate has been in the negative territory for the second straight month. In April it was (-) 0.92 per cent. In May, 2022 WPI inflation was at 16.63 per cent. The May, 2023 data print of (-) 3.48 per cent...

Carbon Copy The India Meteorological Department (IMD) this week delivered its first long-range forecast for this year’s monsoon. In terms of total rainfall observed over the season, the IMD expects this year’s monsoon to bring 96% of the Long Period Average (with a modelling error of +/-5%). The forecast, if it materialises, places monsoon performance within the “normal” range, albeit narrowly.  Despite the normal forecast, mid-way into summer 2023, India is jittery....

Quartz India Easing global commodity prices have begun to reflect on inflation in India, at both the wholesale and consumer levels. Wholesale price rise in April fell into negative territory for the first time since July 2020, to -0.92%, government data showed yesterday (May 15). It stood at 15.38% in the same month last year. The decline in inflation in goods sold in bulk was primarily driven by a fall in the...