-Livemint.com Rabi crops have been planted in 52 million hectares, 6.5% lower than the normal area of 55.6 million hectares Even as the window for sowing winter crops is set to close by the end of the year, planting of wheat and oilseeds are lower compared with the normal area, farm ministry data showed on Monday. The silver lining is a marginally higher sowing of pulses compared with last year; rising prices...

-Hindustan Times Nearly half of what the average Indian earns she spends on food. And when food prices rise, the average Indian’s budget feels the strain. In November, the consumer food price index, which tracks food prices at retail sales points, was up 6.07% as compared to 5.25% in October. Even data relating to the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), which tracks prices of commodities when they are traded in bulk, show...

-Livemint.com Prices of pulses have been consistently on a rise for past few months, forcing the government to announce a number of measures to check hoarding New Delhi: Why are the prices of pulses rising? Will they stabilize anytime soon? The prices have been rising steadily over the last few months. Inflation in Lentils stood at 46% in November, after hitting 42% in October, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers...

-Livemint.com As the base effect wears off in some categories and unseasonal rains affect winter sowing, the prognosis for food inflation doesn’t look good Food inflation, which inched up to 6.08% in November, is the main story in Monday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. Lentils were the main culprits for the rise. Inflation in pulses and pulses products rose to a high of 46.08% since the new series has been released. Inflation...

-The Asian Age It’s a huge story. And it’s not getting the kind of media attention it deserves. It’s a story about India’s farmers. It’s a story about the ongoing agrarian crisis in the country in the wake of two successive years of drought. If one looks only at the figures of growth of gross domestic product which tend to make headlines in financial publications, there’s no story for agriculture comprises...