Amidst predictions by FAO of a record world cereal production of 2279.5 million tonnes during 2010-2011, the bad news is that Drought conditions may bring down Russia's domestic wheat production to 50 million tonnes in the current year from 63.7 million tonnes in 2008-09. Russia has already imposed a temporary ban on wheat exports. This has pushed up international prices of wheat contradicting the prediction of FAO's Food Outlook 2010...

Complexity and unsolved problems are at the very heart of the sustainability challenge, and at the very heart of M.S. Swaminathan's thinking and essays. In 1798, Thomas Robert Malthus offered the piercing insight that geometric population growth would inevitably outstrip food production, leaving society destitute and hungry. Since that time, our optimism of beating the “Malthusian curse” has waxed and waned. Few people in modern history have done more to help...

Wheat prices surged to a two-year high while shares in European brewers and food producers fell on Friday as markets reacted to the sudden imposition of a ban on grain exports from Drought-hit Russia. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin moved decisively on Thursday to halt exports of grain and flour from August 15 to the end of the year and the country’s railroad monopoly said on Friday it will stop loading...

During my fieldwork in Tonk district of Rajasthan, a Dalit family once narrated a ‘miracle’ to me. In 2002, they faced a Drought as bad as the chhappani akaal of 1900-02. But at the end of 2002, the Dalit family was pleasantly surprised: they still had some foodgrain left. This, the family members said, was a result of the good relief work done by the Ashok Gehlot government. Similar proactive State...

Russia has announced a temporary ban on wheat exports. This is of course not entirely unanticipated. Today, soon after the Russian Prime Minister reportedly announced a temporary grain export ban, prices were seen rising further. Drought conditions have threatened Russian wheat harvest. From record 63.7 million tonnes in 2008-09, wheat production declined by two million tonnes the following year. Drought is now threatening to pull output down to around 50 mt. Russia's wheat exports...