-Hindustan Times Heavy rainfall accompanied by hail over the weekend damaged crops in key food-producing states across north and central India, triggering fears of higher food prices amid a deepening nationwide agrarian crisis. A good crop was a must this season for the sustenance of farmers who suffered because of unseasonal rainfall in March-April last year followed by a drought that reduced output of summer crops. A good yield was expected this...

-Outlook The poor are increasingly displaying food preferences for better tasting, flavoured and packaged foods but with low nutritional content. Renewed media hype about counting the number of poor was sparked by the recent release of the Socio-Economic Caste Census. While many analysts found the prevalence of poverty alarmingly high, others debunked the SECC report for its muddled and incoherent view of deprivation. An important contribution of this report, however, is the...

-Deccan Herald Many of India's agricultural practices have barely changed in decades. Reform is long overdue. Nearly a quarter of a century after India launched its first big liberalising reforms in 1991, setting off a new spurt of growth, one area of the country’s economy remains hardly touched: farming. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a 24-hour, state-run television channel for farmers in May, but has fostered no public debate about how to improve...

-Business Standard Vegetables as a category showed deflation of 4.78% in December y-o-y, which meant prices started rising substantially in January New Delhi: Vegetable prices in Azadpur wholesale market have risen in the range of 20-40 per cent in January 2015 as compared to the corresponding period last year. A few items saw a rise beyond this range. While carrots turned expensive by 129 per cent, peas, spinach and cabbage prices increased...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Prices of most food items have been inching up relentlessly through the past year despite several so-called reforms in management of food supply chains. While staples like wheat flour and rice have become marginally costlier, prices of pulses like masoor and arhar have soared by up to 30%. Barring a few exceptions, prices of vegetables and fruits have shot up by 20 to 50%, and...