It is a common misconception in the West that the people of India are all vegetarians. In fact, only 30% of the Indian population is vegetarian, a figure that varies significantly by region, caste and religion. Despite being home to the largest vegetarian population globally, India also has one of the world’s fastest-growing meat markets—particularly…

The emergence of gene-editing technologies, particularly CRISPR-Cas9, has ushered in new possibilities for transformative advancements in agriculture, healthcare and environmental sustainability. The discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 in 2012 has the potential to accelerate the pace of innovation and enable more precise interventions in biological systems. Unlike traditional genetic modification (GM), which often involves inserting foreign DNA…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer confined to labs and tech hubs. Today, it is transforming agriculture—tailoring weather advice for farmers and spotting pests before they decimate crops. As IBM defines it, AI is “technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem-solving, decision-making, creativity and autonomy.” In India, home to over…

In May 2025, the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) announced its newest project, Promoting Value Chains for Climate Resilience and Nutritious Diets. TCI researchers will map and analyze the value chains for key nonstaple food groups in India—coarse grains, horticultural produce, pulses and oilseeds. Through their analysis, they will identify challenges and inefficiencies…

India can reduce the negative environmental impact of the Public Distribution System (PDS) by replacing some of the rice and wheat procured for the program with millets and including more states in the procurement process, researchers from the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) argue in a new article in The India Forum. Citing…

Purnima Menon, an expert on food and nutrition policy, will deliver a lecture at Cornell University on Tuesday, September 30, at 12:20 p.m. ET in Mann Library 102. The lecture is entitled “Nudging People (and Policy) Towards Better Diets and Nutrition: Insights from South Asia.” The event is part of the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture…

When I first heard about the Tata-Cornell Institute’s FPO Platform for India, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I knew it had something to do with farmer producer organizations (FPOs) and helping improve agricultural value chains, but I kept wondering, how do we actually connect a farmer in a remote village to the bigger…

India’s massive food program, the Public Distribution System, provides subsidized grain to more than 800 million people each year, but not all of it reaches consumers. In 2011–12, about 42% of the 51.4 million metric tons of grain distributed through the PDS was lost. Some of this “leakage” occurs during transportation, storage and distribution, while…

When I first began working with farming communities in Rwanda, I discovered a truth that has shaped my perspective on development ever since: real transformation does not come from technology alone—it comes from people. It comes from communities standing together, building collective resilience. The strength of a group, more than any single innovation, drives sustainable…

Recent research has revealed a frightening reality: on average, we are consuming the equivalent of one credit card of plastic every week. That’s right, every week, we unknowingly ingest microplastics—tiny plastic particles that have found their way into our food system. What’s even more disturbing is that plastics have been found in commercially available salts,…