India is the first nation in the world to officially recognise the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) for organic certification. For this, the government of India must be warmly applauded.

A bid by the Philippines to extend special treatment on rice imports at the WTO is being blocked by the US over health and safety standards for frozen meat, the Filipino agriculture minister claimed last Thursday. The two sides met today in the Philippines in an attempt to resolve the row.

n 2008, 36 million people died from non-communicable diseases (NCDs). 1 By 2020, NCDs are projected to cause almost three quarters as many deaths as communicable, maternal, perinatal, and nutritional diseases, and by 2030 to exceed them as the most common causes of death. 2 On Sept 19, 2011, the UN will take an important step towards modification of the future course of NCDs at the High-level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases.

The supporters of liberalisation often argue that if the modern food retail sector is allowed a full round of liberalisation, it may have various positive outcomes, including a reduction in prices. This article raises a counter question, what if the markets, as it happens in several instances, fail to deliver on account of the structural snags that may continue to persist in a rapidly growing and yet highly segmented economy?