Unfavorable weather this past summer caused a shortfall in food production that is now reverberating through the Indian economy. Food comprises half of India’s consumer price index and the cost of vegetables in this global number one vegetarian market has reportedly skyrocketed 61 percent. India, which has four times the population as the U.S. but just 28 percent of the arable land available per capita, nonetheless imports only a small fraction of the fruits and vegetables as the U.S. (see table below). India has 11 times as many vegetarians in its population as the U.S., yet it imports just 0.21 percent of the vegetables imported by the U.S. and just 3.46 percent the per capita volume of fruit imports. India employs hig...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.