Global food prices continue to rise month after month, driven by longer-term and more recent trends. Financialisation is an important factor among the recent trends. There is strong evidence of correlation among the markets for different financial assets, including stocks/shares, commodities and currencies. Falling asset prices in other financial market segments may thus be more important for explaining the recent surge in food prices than supply constraints or changing demand and other factors underlying longer-term gradual upward price trends.

Though India is one of the largest producers of the food in the world, nearly three hundred million people struggle for meeting two square meals a day and 21 percent of the national population are malnourished. This indicates the issues of accessibility to adequate and nutritive food to the poor.

The government patched together an intricate

"Those that think that the market-led system is perfect are living in a dream... There is need for an optimal combination of around 70 per cent of market and 30 per cent state influence" - Ashok Gulati, Chairman Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, Ministry of Agriculture, in conversation with Ajay Jakhar and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.

Centre nominates scientists belonging to ICAR and state agri universities to help farmers in 70 districts

The Union Agriculture Ministry has nominated scientists belonging to the ICAR and state agricultural universities as resource-persons in 70 districts of eastern India in an attempt to give a fillip to the Centre

Conservationists and agriculturalists must harness new, integrated approaches to achieve biodiversity and agricultural goals, argues Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028085.100-conservation-and-farm...

The government

The government will certainly not indulge in self congratulation for agriculture recording a growth of 5.4 per cent to 232.07 million tonnes in 2010-11 as this is happening on a low production base of 218.11 million tonnes last year when the country experienced the worst south-west monsoon since 1972.

Hisar: Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today called upon farmers and farm scientists to help conserve water.

Buoyed by a fresh Rs 400-crore fillip to transform the east into the country

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