All stories by Dilip Kumar Jha
India's gold demand to hit 11-year low in Q2 on high price
Rediff.com1 Aug 2020This was because of the closure of retail shops and factories after the nationwide lockdown was imposed to prevent spread of Covid-19, and a sharp increase in the metal's price.
US action against Hong Kong may boost India's jewellery export
Rediff.com27 Jul 2020After China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong earlier this month, the United States on July 14 withdrew the special status granted to Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada followed suit.
Vegetable prices plunge by up to 44% in the past three weeks
Rediff.com7 Jul 2020In most cases, however, retail consumers are paying higher prices in the absence of direct procurement from aggregator or farmers.
As lockdown eases, demand for milk rises
Rediff.com11 Jun 2020With the gradual opening up of shops, hotels, restaurants and catering services with limited number of participants, milk consumption has improved by 5-10 per cent from the lowest level.
Post-Covid, govt planning ban on sale of loose edible oil
Rediff.com31 May 2020Branded and packaged edible oils are currently selling at around 50 per cent premiums over their loose varieties. Hence, products using edible oils would be costlier going forward.
APMC mandi in Navi Mumbai to go digital to combat coronavirus
Rediff.com16 May 2020People in the know said plans were afoot to begin the sale of all food grains through online, with a major quantity through auctions that would be later extended to other commodities.
Vashi market to shut for a week, Mumbai faces vegetable shortage
Rediff.com9 May 2020The government of Maharashtra decided to shut operations at APMC Vashi mandi between May 11 and 17 after confirmed cases of Covid-19 surpassed 80 in the APMC and over 450 across Navi Mumbai, where the mandi is located.
Will Mumbai be hit by shortage of essential goods?
Rediff.com7 May 2020Vashi APMC traders see supplies to Mumbai impacted over movement curbs. A number of trucks sent to Mumbai from the market has reduced from 600 per day in recent times to around 300.
Even as rabi crop rots in fields farmers prepare for kharif season
Rediff.com19 Apr 2020Normally, kharif sowing of vegetable seeds starts during the first week of May across the country. Farmers start preparing their fields to make them suitable for kharif sowing during the second fortnight of April. Now, however, faced with the lockdown, farmers are in a hurry to clear their fields of rabi crop and prepare for kharif planting. With a normal monsoon forecast this year, they are doing all they can to take advantage of pre-monsoon showers.
Desperate, farmers in Nashik sell onions for Rs 3/kg
Rediff.com7 Apr 2020The model or average price for a kg of onion was Rs 6 on Monday -- the lowest in this late kharif and rabi harvesting season, so far. While poorer quality kharif onions traded at Rs 3 a kg, the price of export quality was Rs 9 a kg.
Poultry farmers in Karnataka, Kerala hit by bird flu
Rediff.com21 Mar 2020Farmers in the two states have reportedly begun culling chickens, while the state governments have restricted supply of chicken across their borders.
Coronavirus fears halt export of buffalo meat
Rediff.com15 Mar 2020Since 2013-14, buffalo meat had been the largest export item in the agri commodity basket for a few years. Since the coronavirus outbreak in January, Indian exporters have received no fresh orders from Southeast Asian and West Asian countries, which cumulatively contribute nearly 65 per cent of India's overall buffalo meat shipment.
Potato prices jump by 25% due to crop damage, rains
Rediff.com13 Mar 2020Farmers reported a massive crop damage in transit in addition to huge quantity of the potato left unharvested due to mud in the field.
Onion prices shoot up as export curbs are lifted
Rediff.com28 Feb 2020At the benchmark Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandi, the model onion price shot up to Rs 21.50 a kg on Thursday, as against Rs 16.50 a kg on Wednesday. This was the highest since February 11.
Roses to become pricier by 20-25% as demand rises ahead of Valentine's Day
Rediff.com13 Feb 2020Demand has also jumped from abroad, including the European Union and America.
Valentine's Day: Silver's the NEW shade of love!
Rediff.com10 Feb 2020Why millennials are choosing silver over gold this Valentine's Day.
Poultry prices decline amid rumours of coronavirus spreading to birds
Rediff.com7 Feb 2020Since coronavirus broke out in a few cities in China and a couple of cases were spotted in India as well, rumours claimed for the first time that it was carried by birds.
Onion prices fall 40 pc in a week at Lasalgaon mandi
Rediff.com29 Jan 2020Data from the Nashik-based National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation showed that onion was trading at at Rs 24 a kg on Tuesday in the benchmark Lasalgaon mandi in Nashik district of Maharashtra. That's a fall of four per cent since Monday and 40 per cent from Rs 40 a kg on January 20, a level not seen since November 6, 2019. It continues to sell at Rs 40-44 a kg in retail markets across the country.
India facing a bumper wheat crop, shows data
Rediff.com28 Jan 2020Data compiled by National Collateral Management Services (NCML, a non-government body) shows a 6.3 per cent rise to 109 million tonnes (mt). The Union ministry of agriculture's first advance estimate was 100.5 mt, as compared to 102 mt in last year's fourth advance estimate.
After Dec's surge, veggie prices dip on rise in arrivals
Rediff.com15 Jan 2020Prices have continued to move up in Delhi's markets, wholesale and retail, on supply worries and spoilage due to record cold weather.