Harish Damodaran

Noida

Rural Affairs and Agriculture Editor at The Indian Express

Articles

How IMF has forced Pakistan to reform its farm sector

4 weeks ago | indianexpress.com | Harish Damodaran

Can one imagine India dismantling minimum support price (MSP)-based procurement operations in wheat and rice? Or the government dissolving the Food Corporation of India (FCI)? Both political and economic considerations – not risking farmer displeasure and ensuring adequate grain reserves for the public distribution system, as well as to curb excessive open market price volatility – practically rule these out.
How FTAs with US, EU, UK will impact India’s farm trade

1 month ago | indianexpress.com | Harish Damodaran

India’s agriculture exports rose 6.4% to $51.9 billion in 2024-25, from $48.8 billion during the preceding fiscal year ended March 2024. This was as against the almost flat 0.1% growth in the value of its overall goods exports, from $437.1 billion in 2023-24 to $437.4 billion in 2024-25. But the difference was even more in the value of imports.
முக்கிய பணவீக்கம் சரிவு; ரிசர்வ் வங்கி வட்டி விகிதங்களை குறைக்க முடிவு செய்தது ஏன்?

1 month ago | tamil.indianexpress.com | Harish Damodaran

நீண்ட காலமாக, பணவீக்கம் உணவுப் பொருட்களின் விலைகளால் இயக்கப்படுகிறது. இதன் விளைவாக, ரிசர்வ் வங்கி 'மொத்த' பணவீக்கத்தை விட 'முக்கிய' பணவீக்கத்தில் கவனம் செலுத்த வேண்டும் என்ற கோரிக்கைகள் எழுந்தன. ஆனால் இப்போது, உணவுப் பணவீக்கம் மொத்த மற்றும் முக்கிய பணவீக்கத்தை விட பின்தங்கியுள்ளது. இதன் அர்த்தம் என்ன? நீண்ட காலமாக, பணவீக்கம் உணவுப் பொருட்களின் விலைகளால் இயக்கப்படுகிறது. இதன் விளைவாக, ரிசர்வ் வங்கி 'மொத்த' பணவீக்கத்தை விட 'முக்கிய' பணவீக்கத்தில் கவனம் செலுத்த வேண்டும் என்ற கோரிக்கைகள் எழுந்தன.
The ‘core’ of inflation, and RBI’s rate cutting decisions

1 month ago | indianexpress.com | Harish Damodaran

Between February 8, 2023 and February 6, 2025, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its key short-term ‘repo’ lending rate for banks unchanged at 6.5%. This roughly two-year period (February 2023 to January 2025) saw inflation based on the official consumer price index (CPI) average 5.2% year-on-year. It was even higher, at 7.6%, for the consumer food price index (CFPI).
Explained: Why farmers prefer growing rice and wheat

1 month ago | indianexpress.com | Harish Damodaran

Farmers, like all businessmen, are rational and risk-averse. Everything else being the same, they will choose to grow crops that offer reasonable price as well as yield assurance. No surprise, then, that rice and wheat are their most preferred crops – more so when they have access to basic irrigation that can supplement natural rainfall. Between 2015-16 and 2024-25, the area planted under rice has increased from 29.8 to 32.4 lakh hectares (lh) in Punjab, while from 10.5 lh to 47 lh in Telangana.
Explained: How ethanol from maize has ignited a Fuel vs. Feed debate

1 month ago | indianexpress.com | Harish Damodaran

Agriculture is a source of food, feed, fibre and fuel. Take cotton: The raw kapas bolls that farmers harvest yield not just the white fluffy fibres or lint. They also contain seeds, from which edible oil (food) is extracted. The residual protein-rich cake after oil extraction is used as a feed ingredient for cattle and poultry. But it is the fourth ‘F’ – as fuel – that’s creating ripples, if not consternation, among existing user industries. This is especially so with maize.
At a Haryana farmstead, cows, cars and a plea for conserving indigenous breeds

1 month ago | indianexpress.com | Harish Damodaran

How should India ensure the conservation of its indigenous cattle breeds — whether those reared for milk (Gir, Red Sindhi, Sahiwal and Tharparkar) or for both milch and draught purposes (Kankrej, Ongole, Rathi, Deoni, Hariana, Mewati and Dangi)?
How tractor and fertiliser sales data act as a mirror for farm sector growth

2 months ago | indianexpress.com | Harish Damodaran

The Green Revolution has been synonymous with chemical fertilisers, tractors, and high-yielding seeds. Growth in their sales is considered a reliable proxy indicator for the performance of the farm sector. By that yardstick, 2024-25 was a good year for Indian agriculture, in which both tractors and fertilisers notched up impressive sales growth.
The hope from softening food inflation

2 months ago | indianexpress.com | Harish Damodaran

The last El Niño – from around April 2023 to May 2024 – was not only a long, but also strong event. Sea surface temperatures (SST) in the Pacific Ocean waters off the coasts of Ecuador and Peru rose up to 2 degrees Celsius above the 30-year average for this region in some months. That was way higher than the minimum threshold, of 0.5 degrees Celsius or more positive SST departure from normal, for classification as an El Niño event.
Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Donald Trump: How US tariffs herald an end to the era of hyper-globalisation

2 months ago | indianexpress.com | Harish Damodaran

The 18th century Scottish economist Adam Smith (1723-90) propounded the “absolute advantage” principle of international trade: Countries should specialise in producing goods that they can make more cheaply than others and import those they cannot manufacture as efficiently. “The taylor (sic) does not attempt to make his own shoes, but buys them of the shoemaker.