-The Times of India   Notwithstanding the government's projections of a moderation in the rate of price rise of food items, food inflation jumped to a two-month high of 9.01 per cent for the week ended May 28 on the back of costlier fruits, onions and protein-based items. Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), was 8.06 per cent in the previous week, while it was as high as...

-The Business Standard   Given the unchecked proliferation of central agricultural development schemes (totalling more than 50), Krishi Bhawan’s move to condense them into a few programmes, while leaving greater operational say to state governments, seems well-conceived. The Planning Commission has done well to readily agree to such a shift in approach from the 12th Plan, which starts next April. In fact, when Krishi Bhawan launched its flagship programme, the Rashtriya...

The dun wheat field spreading out at Ravi P. Singh's feet offered a possible clue to human destiny. Baked by a desert sun and deliberately starved of water, the plants were parched and nearly dead. Dr. Singh, a wheat breeder, grabbed seed heads that should have been plump with the staff of life. His practiced fingers found empty husks. “You're not going to feed the people with that,” he said. But then, over...

Indian farmers have much to celebrate this year with a bumper wheat harvest. As predicted by the ministry of agriculture, wheat farmers have begun to harvest what is shaping up to be a record crop, projected at 84.27 million tonnes. We are growing more wheat than ever before. The earlier record of 80.8 million tonnes of wheat production was achieved in 2009-10. Estimates show that foodgrain production including wheat, rice, pulses...

-The Hindu   Investing an additional $40 billion annually in the forestry sector can halve the deforestation rates by 2030, increase the rate of tree planting by about 140 per cent by 2050, and catalyse the creation of millions of new jobs, according to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Backed by the right kind of enabling policies, such an investment — equal to about two-thirds more than what...