Deutsche Welle/The Telegraph El Nino, a natural climate phenomenon that alters global weather patterns, has officially returned after four years, threatening to exacerbate already elevated food inflation. Growing warnings about El Nino have already helped coffee, Sugar and cocoa prices to rise sharply in recent weeks, Germany's biggest private lender, Deutsche Bank, said in a research note last week. Other food commodities are expected to follow as harvests get impacted by severe...

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said that as per second Advance Estimates (2022-23), production of foodgrains in the country is estimated at 3,235 lakh tonne, which is higher by 79 lakh tonne than the production of foodgrains during 2021-22. Record production of rice, maize, gram, pulses, rapeseed and mustard, oilseeds and Sugarcane is estimated.  Total production of Sugarcane in the country during 2022-23 is estimated at record 4,688 lakh...

Down to Earth Nirasiya Bai’s three sons are used to their mother fainting every other week. Small pieces of shakkar (brown Sugar) are now kept handy and placed swiftly under her tongue every time she is on the verge of collapsing. In March alone, three such incidents have occurred. The 52-year-old resident of Shivtarai village in Chattisgarh’s Bilaspur district is a diabetes patient. Nearly every other family in the village houses...

Factchecker.in On March 6, 2023, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed that no farmer had died by suicide in the last six years. But, 398 farmers and 731 farm labourers died by suicide between 2017 and 2021 in the state, official data show. “Sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh were forced to burn their crops and attempt suicide but in the last six years, no farmer in Uttar Pradesh has died by...

Hindu Businessline El Nino is one piece in the mammoth jigsaw puzzle that the Pacific Ocean and its seasonal climatic patterns typify. Being the largest single body of water, the Pacific has an outsized influence on weather and climate across the globe. During El Niño, trade winds weaken and warm water gets pushed back East of the Pacific, towards the West coast of the Americas.  Generally, El Niño occurs more frequently than...