| Wednesday, 19 October 2022 |
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Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],
Even if you normally don’t pay attention to food and agriculture news, it would have been hard to miss some of the screaming headlines these past few weeks.
Unseasonal rains have spelt disaster for India’s already stressed rice production. (Wheat production is also below average this year, thanks to the heat waves.)
Both the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Bank have released estimates and expressed concerns on rising prices, and a looming shortage of this staple Asian cereal.
Then, there was the new Global Hunger Index, where India ranked 107 out of 121 countries. (The government immediately put out a press release challenging the ranking. No surprises there, right?)
Anyhow, rice is an important crop—a staple for nearly half the world. In India, farmers growing rice have a deep emotional and financial dependence on it, even if the country has run its groundwater dry growing it.
