-Hindustan Times New Delhi: In chasing higher and higher GDP growth rates, India tends to gloss over two vital facts. One, farm growth cuts poverty twice as fast as industrial growth. Two, a 1% rise in agricultural output raises industrial production by 0.5% and national income by 0.7%, according to one calculation. In other words, the country’s fortunes are structurally tied to its farmers. Two-thirds of Indians rely on a farm-based income....

-Frontline The inability to resolve pressing problems with respect to the production, distribution and availability of food is one of the important failures of the entire economic reform process. IN the fateful month of July 1991, when the devaluation of the Indian rupee presaged the introduction of a whole series of liberalising economic reforms, agriculture was very far from the minds of most policymakers and commentators. The immediate focus was on...

-The Indian Express Price and technology-led incentives alone will not help boost pulses and oilseeds production in the country. Indian agriculture is governed by an impossible trinity or “trilemma” that requires it to meet three simultaneous objectives — global competitiveness, social inclusiveness and environmental sustainability — each often at odds with the other two. Official policy has largely tilted towards supporting the first two goals, with token, if not grudging, acknowledgement of...

-Business World It is time for mainstream approach to change so that warehousing industry is perceived as a services sector. Warehouses can become the distribution centres pan India India is the world's second-largest fruit producer, with an annual production of 46.8 million tons, accounting for 10 per cent of global fruit production. It is also the world's second-largest vegetable producer, with an output of 90.85 million tons, accounting for 14 per cent...

-The Hindu The notion of using tax as a tool to alter consumer food preferences cannot be faulted in principle. Mexico provides us with proof that levying additional taxes on non-essential food items that are rich in fat or calories can effectively alter food choices. The country witnessed a 5.1 per cent dip in consumption levels in foodstuff that had more than 275 kcal/100 g energy density following the imposition of...