-Business Standard Overall food inflation measured on CPI came down to 5.59% in Oct as against 7.67% in the previous month The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation rose to 5.52% in October compared to the same period last year, its lowest rate since the government started releasing the data in February 2012. For September, CPI inflation was 6.46%, making October's numbers the third consecutive month that retail inflation has eased. According to...

-Down to Earth Study finds that black carbon and ozone pollution in India has significantly cut wheat and rice yield The levels of smog and air pollution in India have become so severe that crop yields are taking a hit. Scientists recently analysed yields for wheat and rice alongside pollution data, and concluded that the crop yields have significantly reduced. They have attributed the decrease in yield to two air pollutants-black carbon...

-The Hindu Business Line Output data is unreliable, which leaves us unprepared for shortages. And, farming practices are primitive The price of potatoes is once again moving up, largely due to the demand-supply gap in the market-place. The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) that was asked by the Ministry of Civil Supplies to explore the possibility of importing potatoes from Russia, China and Egypt, procured 3,500 tonnes of potatoes...

-Deccan Herald In accordance with a new agroecology initiative within the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, by using the agroecological methods, small farmers are key to feeding the world, Nafeez Ahmed notes. Modern industrial agricultural methods can no longer feed the world, due to the impacts of overlapping environmental and ecological crises linked to land, water and resource availability. The stark warning comes from the new United Nations Special Rapporteur on the...

-The Indian Express This July, I spoke with a farmer in Angul district, Odisha. During the kharif season, most of his 45-acre farm is devoted to paddy, but during the rabi season, he grows a variety of pulses, oilseeds and vegetables. He is currently president of the village watershed committee, working to implement an impressive programme to halt soil erosion and water runoff. He pointed out newly constructed contour and farm...