The area under wheat this year has increased to 29.1 million hectares, compared to 28.2 million hectares in the corresponding period last year. Higher coverage is reported from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Sowing is marginally lower in West Bengal. Production is expected to exceed last year's 80.17 million tonnes. According to data released by the Agriculture Ministry, the coverage of rabi crops is 51.92 million hectares, against 50.59...

The countrywide share of corporate retail in food distribution tripled in the past four years when retail food prices showed the greatest increase. THE dramatic increase in food inflation over the past two years has been associated with several surprises. One major surprise has been how the top economic policymakers in the country have responded to it. The initial response was one of apparent disbelief, followed very quickly by the...

There is a suggestion circulating in the corridors of our apex monetary regulatory authority, the Reserve Bank of India, that food inflation is beginning to look more ‘structural’ than ‘seasonal’, and it can only be tackled by addressing the supply side. We need to address both demand and supply sides simultaneously to tackle food inflation. While we must be happy that more and more poor eat fruits and cook vegetables...

From onions, sugar and coconuts, to tea, pulses, rice and spices, all kitchen ingredients will remain expensive in the New Year as unseasonal rains beyond the monsoon wipe out India’s major crops. Worse, rains are hampering the sowing of winter wheat, coarse grains and oilseeds, putting further pressure on food inflation that touched a two-and-a-half month high at 14.44% on Thursday. Across the country, farmers are helplessly watching their fields turn into...

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...