Wheat Sowing Slow; Higher Prices Remain Stable The rabi wheat sowing has reached 11.066 million hectares thus far, down 12.41 percent from 12.635 million hectares at the same time last year. The government of India (GOI) had doubled the wheat import duty in early November (near the start of the new season) from 10 percent to 20 percent as a signal to farmers that they should produce more wheat and also to reduce the level of imports needed. However, it is possible that the planted area will be expanded this season. One reason being given for the current reduced coverage is the stubble issue. As farmers have not been able to remove the stubble from paddy quickly enough since burning has been banned, the sowing is slow and could remain so f...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.