India’s monsoon rains were about 3% above normal in July, the highest for the month since 2005, making a repeat of last year’s crop failure and food-led inflation surge unlikely. Heavy rain since the third week of July has brought readings above normal for the first time this monsoon season, according to weather office data, wiping out the seasonal shortfall in almost all major grain areas other than in the east...

After nearly 15 straight months of double-digit food inflation, the government announced on Thursday that food inflation had dipped to 9.67% for the week that ended on July 17. That's small consolation for most Indians, particularly the poor, who have seen a relentless assault on their food budgets that has resulted in essential items being dropped from the menu, giving rise to a whole new enforced "austerity diet". Since no...

The government today revised upward its estimate for foodgrain production at 218.20 million tonnes (mt) in the 2009-10 crop year. The upward revision came even as the estimates for output of rice, wheat and pulses were revised downward for the year. Even as the foodgrain production in 2009-10 is expected to surpass its earlier estimate, it continues to be lower than the output of 234.47 mt achieved in 2008-09. The fourth...

The Rs 2-a-kg rice may have scripted a successful 'political' story in the State, but it has failed to translate into a successful 'anti-hunger' story. This is not a general assumption rather the scientific inference of a well-researched study by Orissa MDG Forum a joint venture of Unicef, Orissa, and Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar (XIMB) released here today. Majority of the tribal people in Bhatangpadar panchayat (site of the study) in...

Monsoon rains, which have entered the key soybean-growing areas, are likely to be weak in the next three days, weather officials said on Monday. But industry officials said sowing of soybean, the main summer-planted oilseed, would not be hit due to good soil moisture after recent pre-monsoon showers in the region. Weather officials said rains are likely to gather momentum from 25 June. “We expect monsoon flow to strengthen over central India from...