Large inflow of onion from Gujarat has helped rein in high prices of the vegetable, which is now available at Rs 25-30 a kg in retail markets, in the national capital, traders said. "Increased arrival of onion from Gujarat from January 25 onwards boosted supply in the national capital due to which price of the vegetable crashed to Rs 25-30/kg," Onion Merchants Association General Secretary Rajendra Sharma told PTI. The prices of...

Food inflation dropped sharply to 13.07% for the week ended January 29 from 17.05% in the previous week. According to data released by the ministry of industry and commerce on Thursday food inflation declined to a seven-week low due to decline in the prices of pulses and potatoes. On an annual basis, prices of potatoes declined 8.87%, while pulses fell 8.63% and wheat by 3.58%, the government data said. Although the...

Buoyed by high foodgrains production, the country's farm sector is expected to grow at 5.4 per cent in the current financial year, as against 0.4 per cent a year ago. A likely growth in the "agriculture, forestry and fishing sector" is due to an estimated higher production of rice, wheat, pulses, oilseeds, cotton, sugarcane and some horticultural crops, according to Advance Estimate released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO). The foodgrains production...

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...

Good weather conditions and the recent rains in North India have brightened the chances of a better wheat crop this year. Improvement in the cultivation per hectare of wheat and better quality seed may also help increase production. According to sources, the total wheat production of Haryana and Punjab may reach 268 lakh metric tonnes in 2010-11, compared to 256 lakh MT of the previous year. It is expected that while...