Soon after the monsoon was over, rains made unseasonal comeback in Nashik and nearby areas again on Diwali day. As days passed, the initial surprise turned into shock as it rained night after night, and by Sunday it had rained 525mm in November. Heavy showers and thunderstorms all over the district damaged the crops so much that nothing of the rabi (winter) crop remains. Vineyards have thrown away young berries at...

The main greenhouse gases have reached their highest concentration levels since pre-industrial times, a United Nations climate research body said today. The World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) 2009 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin warns that carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have all increased their presence, increasing their burden on the earth’s atmosphere. “Greenhouse gas concentrations have reached record levels despite the economic slowdown. They would have been even higher without the international action taken...

The food import bill of the global community could surpass the $1 trillion mark in 2010, with prices of most commodities going up sharply compared to the previous year, the Food and Agriculture Organisation has said. In the latest edition of its ‘Food Outlook’ report, the U.N. agency asked the world community to be prepared for harder times ahead unless production of major food crops increases significantly in 2011. The food import...

Rising food prices have not yet reached crisis levels but they are expected to remain very volatile for about the next decade, researchers said Thursday. The conclusions were based on a new study of the factors that contributed to the 2007-08 food crisis, which researchers hope will shed light on what actions might be taken to avoid food crises in the future. "There were many suspects for what caused the crisis, but...

India’s rice output is likely to rise 12.36 per cent this year, on favourable pattern of monsoon and higher acreage area, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO’s) latest food review forecast released yesterday. The agency estimated India’s total milled rice output at 100 million tonnes (mt) this year, as against 89 mt the previous year. Global rice production is estimated to reach 467 mt, compared with 472...