-The Telegraph Nagpur: The Maharashtra government has given a slew of private companies permission to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops at state agriculture universities' farms, rejecting its dissenting agriculture minister's suggestion for a public debate first. Before this, no Indian state had allowed field trials of GM crops since October last year, when a Supreme Court-appointed expert panel recommended a 10-year moratorium on such trials - though the court has...

-Economic and Political Weekly   The current groundwater crisis in Punjab is a combination of paradoxical consequences - extreme depletion in some areas and water logging in others. This paper provides a brief description of the contours of the crisis and pinpoints possible reasons for its emergence in failures of policy as well as implementation. It also proposes a package of approaches as part of a paradigm shift for Punjab that can...

-The Business Standard The only way to fix food inflation Both the inflation figures for November and current market reports indicate that the contours of food inflation have changed tangibly of late. While the prices of pulses, edible oils and sugar have tended to either moderate or decline, those of staple cereals, notably rice and wheat, and of perishable items, chiefly vegetables and fruits, continue to propel food inflation higher. The blame...

-Economic and Political Weekly Punjab's new agriculture policy based on a report prepared by the Committee for Formulation of Agriculture Policy for Punjab focuses on yield enhancement and market orientation instead of demand-driven agriculture. While the report talks about the need for diversification, it does not bother to analyse the failure of earlier policies. The report is on the whole short on analysis and long on recommendations. Sukhpal Singh (sukhpal@iimahd.ernet.in) is with...

-Down to Earth India faces a surplus of foodgrains. Is exporting a good option? With India's grain mountain set to implode, the government is desperate to push the exports of rice and wheat. However, a global glut and the resulting depression of prices are dimming the prospects of foodgrain exports. According to the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency for grain trade in the country, India is sitting on 34 million...