-Deccan Herald   Barely emerging out of the shadows of freak weather, the warning of a weak Monsoon will push millions of farmers into dire straits. In the midst of all the noise and muck-slinging that dominates the election campaigns there is bad news on the horizon. No, I am not talking of the possibility of a hung Parliament where the numbers don't add up for any political front, but the possibility of...

-The Hindu   Price rise is one of the key issues in this election, and the latest data on inflation spell bad news for the incumbent UPA government; the monster is rearing its head again after lying low over the last three months. Retail inflation, specifically food price inflation, has rebounded in March on the back of rising prices of vegetables and fruits. Wholesale food prices rose 9.9 per cent with rice...

-The Business Standard Impact on farm output to depend on distribution of rains The southwest Monsoon is likely to be below normal in 2014 because of the evolving El Niño, a warming of the Pacific Ocean that upsets weather patterns across the globe, according to a forecast issued on Tuesday by a leading private meteorological agency, Skymet. The official Monsoon forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is due on April 25. Rain during...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: El Nino is likely to hit rains in India but the country may escape an overall drought, private weather company Skymet said in the first forecast by any agency about this year's Monsoon. Rainfall in the season is likely to be below normal at 94% of the long range average, it said. Releasing its assessment some 10 days before the official India Meteorological Department's Monsoon prediction,...

-The Business Standard   Had late winter rains not damaged some standing crops in northern states, India would have had record foodgrain production of 263 million tonnes (mt) in 2013-14. Whatever the loss of rabi crops, the good southwest Monsoon allowed India to record the targeted growth of four per cent in production. However, a good season should not distract us from the reality of the farm sector's vulnerability to major shocks...