India

World cotton prices were boosted by a smaller-than-expected 2015/16 crop and remain high despite a larger harvest this year, says the International Cotton Advisory Committee, pointing to currency turmoil in India. "The currency crisis ... is exacerbating the situation, since that country is the world's largest producer of cotton and the second-largest exporter," says the intergovernmental body.

Sharply higher prices for cheese, butter and sugar pushed up the FAO Food Price Index by 0.7 percent, continuing an unbroken rise from July. The index, which tracks prices for five groups of foods, has been on the rise throughout this year and is now 9 percent higher than one year ago.

The United States will continue its run as the world's largest cotton exporter during 2016/17 with shipments up by 26 percent from the previous marketing year, said the International Cotton Advisory Committee. Higher yields and a 20 percent expansion in U.S. plantings will assure an abundant supply for shipment overseas.

The UN International Labor Organization estimates 3.5 million people around the world work in forced labor conditions in agriculture, including forestry and fishing, says Civil Eats in a story on slavery in the food chain. "This means that forced labor has played a role in the supply chains of many of the most popular food and drinks."

When they need to rent a tractor, small farmers in India typically have to rely on local owners, who may be arbitrary in their fees and cavalier in their treatment of their customers. A major Indian vehicle manufacturer offers the agricultural version of Uber or Lyft — a smartphone app to specify when they need a tractor and for what chores, says the New York Times.

With a worldwide glut holding down cotton prices, the National Cotton Council, a U.S. trade group, called for an examination of domestic supports offered to growers in China, India and other developing countries as well as of the impact of synthetic fibers. Gary Adams, the Cotton Council's chief executive, said India, China and Pakistan are years behind in reporting the scope and type of subsidies offered to their growers.

Tea plants around the world are getting too much rain, says Eater. The excessive precipitation is lowering the number of secondary metabolites they produce—the chemicals responsible for caffeine, antioxidants and flavor .

A year ago, the United States won a WTO decision against India for its ban on imports of U.S. poultry meat. And now the U.S. is back in Geneva, asking for trade compensation because India has complied with the WTO decision, said Reuters.

The global cotton crop will rise 5 percent, to 23 million tonnes, this year although plantings are declining for the second year in a row, according to the forecast by the International Cotton Advisory Council. The intergovernmental body said market prices, depressed for years, will improve as the worldwide cotton glut shrinks during 2016/17.

High sugar and trans-fats in Indian food are turning the world’s second most populous country diabetic, while child malnutrition in the region is slowly retreating, the 2016 Global Nutrition Report said. The study found that diabetes, a deficiency that inhibits the body to effectively use insulin, affects 9.5 percent of India’s population, putting it ahead of the U.K. and the U.S., and on par with China. Furthermore, 2 percent of deaths in all age groups in India are a result of diabetes, the WHO said.

Chickpea prices have soared 44 percent in the past year to reach an all-time high in India, says Agrimoney. India is the world's largest consumer of chickpeas but the pulse is in short supply because of drought.

Forecasts call for an above-average monsoon in India but it won't be enough to restore depleted groundwater levels in rural areas after two years of below-normal rainfall, says CNN. The monsoon is not expected until June and for the moment, a heatwave is adding to the misery.

Government scientists in India "are working hard to reduce carbon emissions by making cows less flatulant," says the New York Times. The second-most populous country in the world is home to 280 million head of cattle and 200 million other ruminants, such as sheep, goats, yaks and buffaloes, together emitting 13 tons of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, daily. "So reducing animal flatulence might actually do some good -- especially in India, where there is little chance of cutting back the use of fossil fuels anytime soon," says the Times.

The world may be headed for its first tight rice supply since the spike in global food prices nearly a decade ago, says a social scientist at the International Rice Research Institute, part of a network of agricultural research centers.

Farmers in Canada intend to plant a record amount of land to lentils and dry peas, a combined 9.4 million acres this year, "betting that strong demand from drought-stricken India will soften the blow of low prices for wheat, corn and other field crops," said the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Global cotton production will increase 4 percent this year, led by larger crops in India and the United States while China tries to whittle down its massive stockpile, said the International Cotton Advisory Council.

India, the Philippines and Indonesia are studying soda taxes, reports Reuters, saying, "2016 may be the year of the sugar tax as several large nations consider levies on sweetened food and drinks to battle obesity and fatten government coffers."

The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled, in a 4-0 vote, there was a reasonable indication that domestic herbicide manufacturers were hurt by dumping of imported 2,4-D weedkiller from China and India. The ITC vote allows the Commerce Department to continue its investigation of the imports.