-PTI Vegetable prices rose up to 100% in the April-July period due to low arrivals of the harvest in mandis, Assocham said In a "most worrying" sign for consumers, the prices of vegetables in retail markets are likely to shoot up further in coming months as the 'peak production season' came to an end, says a report. In the shorter horizon, there will be "more pressure on the market arrivals of vegetables as...

-The Hindu Business Line June IIP up, but manufacturing grows just 0.9%; retail inflation hits 6.07% in July New Delhi: A barely growing manufacturing sector and a surging inflation dealt a double-whammy to the economy. Retail inflation surged to 6.07 per cent in July, overshooting the government and central bank’s comfort zone of 5 per cent, even as manufacturing growth remained almost standstill at 0.9 per cent in June. Yet, the Index of Industrial...

-The New Indian Express CHENNAI: In the quiet corners of the State, farmers of five panchayats have been silently revolutionising pulse farming. Under ‘Pulse Panchayat’, an MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) initiative, over 1000 farmers in Pudukkotai have managed to achieve a 60% increase in the yield and also increasing the land under pulses cultivation in the three years since the project was started in 2013, the farmers said. What was first started...

-The Hindu Business Line Govt’s production and distribution processes are out of sync with consumption patterns Of late, with growing income and awareness about nutritious food, there has been a noticeable decrease in the consumption of rice (a high-carb food) in Indian households. This change in consumption pattern, however, is not reflected in India’s agriculture policy which continues to revolve around rice and wheat. Moreover, current policies related to production, procurement, storage...

-Livemint.com Economic reforms have diversified Indian diets, but there is still not enough on the plate It has been 25 years since economic reforms in India. What has been liberalisation’s effect on the average Indian’s diet? Is it any different today than what it was in 1991? Which of the periods saw more changes in our food plates: Independence to economic reforms or the post-reform period? Food Balance Sheet prepared by FAOSTAT,...