India, Canada sign 5-year MoU to boost agri-food research cooperation
India and Canada strengthened bilateral cooperation in the agri-food sector with the signing of a five-year Memorandum of Understanding between the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management-Kundli (NIFTEM-K) and the University of Saskatchewan (USask). The agreement was signed by NIFTEM-K Director Harinder Singh Oberoi and USask Vice President (Research) Baljit Singh in the […]
Maharashtra’s crop yields: A mixed bag with national implications
Maharashtra, a state that plays a pivotal role in India’s agricultural exports and agro-industries, presents a varied picture when it comes to crop productivity. While some crops such as sugarcane and soybean perform well, others—including cotton, cereals, and millets—lag behind national and top-state averages. For a state so central to India’s farm economy, improving yields […]
How AI adoption is reshaping India’s agri sector: Risks, opportunities & advisory imperatives
India’s agriculture sector supports nearly half of the country’s workforce and remains central to food security, rural livelihoods and economic stability. In recent years, artificial intelligence has begun to influence this vast ecosystem in meaningful ways. What was once limited to experimental pilot projects is now steadily becoming part of mainstream agricultural policy and practice. […]
Farm sector underperforms in FY26 under new series; share rises to 18%
Gross Value Added (GVA) in agriculture and allied activities is estimated to show slower growth in financial year FY26 at 2.4 per cent as per the new series, not only against last year’s estimate of 4.9 per cent but also lower than the estimate as per the old base year, which pegged growth at 3.1 […]
Slack demand, competition weigh on Indian onion exports
India’s onion exports have come under further pressure this financial year, reflecting a sustained decline driven by changing global market dynamics. Shipments have slowed primarily due to reduced offtake from key buyers such as Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, as these countries increasingly rely on their own domestic production, exporters said. This structural shift in demand […]
Spice markets turn divergent: Chilli supply tightens, turmeric eases, ginger faces heat from China
India’s key spice markets are entering a mixed cycle in 2025-26, with chilli production expected to decline sharply, turmeric output rebounding after last year’s price spike, and ginger navigating export volatility amid China’s expanding dominance. Crop intelligence presented at the International Spice Conference (ISC 2026) indicates a year of supply recalibration and price sensitivity across […]
India cancels up to 75,000 tonnes of soybean oil imports as global prices rally
India, the world’s biggest soybean oil buyer, canceled several more cargoes from South America as a rally in international prices gave traders an opportunity to book profits. About 65,000 to 75,000 tonnes that Indian traders booked for April to July have been scrapped in recent days, said Aashish Acharya, vice president at Patanjali Foods Ltd., […]
India’s pulses imports ease 4.5 per cent to 65.69 lakh tonnes during 2025
India’s pulses imports during calendar year 2025 eased marginally to 65.69 lakh tonnes, compared with 68.75 lakh tonnes in the previous year. The 4.45 per cent decline in imports, however, masks divergent trends across key category of pulses. The decline was driven primarily by a sharp fall in yellow peas imports following the government’s decision […]
Budget 2026’s AI push could open a new chapter for India’s farm economy
If you close your eyes and picture “AI,” you probably see servers, screens and start‑ups – not a farmer in a banana field checking her phone before deciding when to irrigate. Budget 2026 invites us to redraw that picture. This year’s Budget does something subtle but important: it stops treating artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure […]
India’s farmers start taking decisions on AI-based forecasts as accuracy improves
Farmers have started taking decisions related to farming on the government’s weather forecasts as accuracy has increased after using Artificial Intelligence, said Union Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi. The government now plans to incorporate more areas such as market prices and arrivals in the advisories to help improve the decision-making capabilities of farmers. Addressing a session […]