While the economy’s revival is still a work in progress, higher food prices, especially of pulses, are affecting nutritional intake across India. While a good monsoon would increase output, it does not necessarily mean that food prices will come down, especially those of pulses. Farmers, for instance, prefer to sow wheat and paddy instead of pulses, thanks to the Minimum Support Price regime. More dal diplomacy is under way to scale up the approximately 5 million tonnes of pulses India procures from 46 countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is signing a pact with Mozambique to double pulses imports from that country.

Source: The Hindu July 07, 2016 20:03 UTC