AGRI-BUSINESS
New designs on foreign lands
Cross-border investments to acquire or lease thousands of hectares of lands hope to take advantage of cheaper input costs in some countries.
Energy
June 2012

FOOD PRICE INFLATION
Watching prices rise, helplessly
The current situation of impotence that the Government finds itself in should prompt some soul searching about the reliance on market mechanisms to take care of India's food security.
Agriculture Policy
January 2010

AGRICULTURE POLICY
Farmers sour on sugar cane
The handling of sugar production, sale and external trade by the government shows a complete absence of strategic planning on an issue that critically affects the aam aadmi.
Trade in Agriculture
September 2009

FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
ASEAN FTA - a hasty, unbalanced deal
Competition from the trade bloc is a cause of worry in Kerala. But the Centre has over-ridden the State's objections to its newest free trade agreement.
Kerala
August 2009

GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS
Patterns from the past
The current crisis has some striking similarities with the fallout in India of the Great Depression. Indian farmers were pushed deep into debt, and the overall economy suffered.
December 2008

TRADE IN AGRICULTURE
Outsourcing food production
The political economy of food is being rewritten, with countries and companies moving to acquire large tracts of farmland and secure their interests.
Devinder Sharma | Food security
November 2008

OPINION: US FARM BILL 2007
Protection at home, preaching abroad
In clear disregard for the ongoing multilateral negotiations, the United States is attempting to protect its already heavily fortified agriculture further.
Devinder Sharma
September 2007

OPINION
ASEAN trade agreement will hurt Kerala farmers
India's share in international trade has increased from 0.7 percent to 1 percent, which is a remarkable achievement, some say. In the meantime, lakhs of farmers in Kerala are being adversely affected by reduction of import tariffs on edible oils, spices and other cash crops. Thomas Varghese delves deeper.
Guest column | Kerala
July 2007

CONSERVATION/ECONOMY
The Malnad mela
No matter which way India's seed policies are heading, the underlying purpose of Malnad's home garden program as a community conservation initiative for the preservation of genetic diversity, organic agriculture, health and ecologically sensitive livelihoods remains undiluted. Keya Acharya reports from northern Karnataka.
Environment | Karnataka
June 2007

OPINION
Weeding out wheat
Claiming highest quality standards in the world when it comes to its own agricultural imports, the United States has no qualms in exporting sub-standard wheat to India. US participation in India's wheat procurement cannot be at the cost of India softening quarantine standards, says Devinder Sharma.
Devinder Sharma June 2007

CONTRACT FARMING
New terms of harvest
Is contract farming the answer to the current woes confronting the nation's farmers, as various corporates claim? Or has the agri-business sector played the right trick at just the right time, with traditional agriculture in the doldrums in so many regions? Gagandeep Kaur reports.
February 2007

AGRICULTURE
Timbaktu Organic is scaling up
This year, 160 farmers in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district committed 480 acres for organic production. Two complete cycles of procurement, processing, and marketing of organic produce in a number of cities have already been completed. Rajni Bakshi says Timbaktu Organic is expanding.
Organic agriculture | Andhra Pradesh
December 2006

WHEAT IMPORTS
Importing a farming crisis
India is unilaterally opening its doors to imports of wheat at a time when several contentious issues remain to be settled in the World Trade Organisation. This deliberate step up will result in serious consequences, and weaken the country's bargaining power, writes Ashok B Sharma.
Guest Opinions
May 2006

INDO-US AGRICULTURE DEAL
Nukes in favour, crops downgraded
The Green Revolution was a publicly owned technology, but the current version is its opposite; processes, products, and research methodologies are caged in patents and the farmer has little say or control. But chasing nuclear stardom, India has once again sacrificed agriculture, writes Suman Sahai.
Guest Opinions | GM crops
April 2006

WTO HONG KONG MINISTERIAL
Much ado about nothing
For the sixth time in a row, the trade ministers of the developing world have been duped to believe that agricultural trade is for development. Despite making loud noises and fuming over injustice, the faulty framework that underlies the WTO remains very much in place, says Devinder Sharma.
Devinder Sharma
December 2005