The government on Tuesday said wheat production will touch a record 82 million tonnes in the current rabi season despite “some damage” to the crop in unprecedented rains this year. “We are targeting 82 million tonnes of wheat production for the current season. I admit there is some damage due to rains, but productivity has also increased at the same time. Hence, there will be no impact on overall production,” Agriculture...

The Centre today sought to justify the export ban on onion by saying that the wholesale price of onion in Nashik, the country’s largest wholesale hub for the bulb crop, had declined by 33 per cent to Rs 2,500 per 100kg or Rs 25 a kg. The impact will not be felt immediately on kitchen budgets as it will take some time – “two to three weeks”, according to Sharad Pawar...

The Prime Minister’s Office has given direct orders to top officials of Sharad Pawar’s department to get cracking after the food minister said it would take “two to three weeks” for onion prices to stabilise. Sources said an annoyed Manmohan Singh has conveyed to Pawar that the time frame set by the minister is too long, especially since prices have skyrocketed within a week. Expressing deep concern over the “extraordinary price rise...

FAO has warned that 2011 may witness a global food crisis. Proactive action is needed to meet the challenge of price volatility, chronic hunger, agrarian despair and climate change. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has alerted developing countries about possible steep rises in food prices during 2011, if steps are not taken immediately to increase significantly the production of major food crops. According to FAO, “with...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said his government was determined to formulate a national food security act to ensure that no citizen goes to bed hungry. "We want that no citizen of our country must sleep hungry. We are determined about the formulation of the national food security act," he said at the 83rd plenary session of the Congress party here. The prime minister added that with a good monsoon, India...