This piece from the TCI 2019-20 Annual Report presents TCI scholar Jocelyn Boiteau’s study of quality and quantity food loss in tomato supply chains in India. Download the full annual report to read more. The loss of fruit and vegetables—damaged during transport or left decaying in a warehouse—in supply chains means that the nutrients of these foods…

In this blog post, Tata-Cornell Institute (TCI) postdoctoral associate Anaka Aiyar draws lessons about migrants in India from TCI’s book, Transforming Food Systems for a Rising India, and applies them to the migration plight precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic. Almost as soon as the Indian government instituted a nationwide lockdown to contain community transmission of the novel coronavirus,…

This piece from the TCI 2019-20 Annual Report presents TCI scholar Vidya Bharathi Rajkumar’s research on the impact of male migration on women’s roles in agriculture. Download the full annual report to read more. Across the developing world, hundreds of millions of people migrate seasonally in hopes of bettering their livelihoods by increasing their incomes and improving…

Technical Assistance and Research for Indian Nutrition and Agriculture (TARINA) has published its 2019 Annual Report. The report provides updates on TARINA’s activities in support of more diverse food systems in India. Led by the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI), TARINA is a consortium that connects policy-focused research partners with community-level, impact-focused implementation partners to…

This piece from the TCI 2019-20 Annual Report presents TCI scholar Bindvi Arora’s use of a novel food extrusion technology to create more nutritious puffed snacks for toddlers. Download the full annual report to read more. In recent years, parents have increasingly turned to puffed snacks, which quickly dissolve in the mouth, as a first finger food…

In an op-ed in Nature India, Tata-Cornell Institute Director Prabhu Pingali asserts that the coronavirus pandemic presents an opportunity for India to reboot its agricultural policy in favor of nutritious, sustainable crops. The piece was co-authored by Arabinda K. Padhee, country director for India at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. “Agriculture, food, and nutrition have come…

In the midst of a nationwide lockdown in India and a stay-at-home order in New York State, Tata-Cornell Institute (TCI) scholar Shiuli Vanaja completed her final PhD exam the same way that much business is completed these days—on Zoom. As the COVID-19 pandemic slows much of the global economy to a halt, TCI has continued with its…

This piece from the TCI 2019-20 Annual Report explores TCI scholar Anthony Wenndt’s research on managing and mitigating fungal toxins in grain stores. Download the full annual report to read more. Exposure to fungal toxins, or mycotoxins, in the diet can lead to cancers, immune deficits, and growth impairment in vulnerable populations, and are associated with spoilage…

Kavya Krishnan, a Tata-Cornell Institute (TCI) scholar studying crop and soil sciences, co-authored a chapter on soil health assessment that appears in Soil Analysis: Recent Trends and Applications. Published by Springer, the book provides a synopsis of the analytical procedures used for soil analysis and is intended to help students, teachers, soil scientists, and laboratory technicians increase their…

In this piece from the TCI 2019-20 Annual Report, TCI scholar Kathryn Merckel’s research on the introduction of vitamin A-rich orange-fleshed sweet potatoes is presented. Download the full annual report to read more. The Indian food system’s heavy focus on staple grains, like rice and wheat, combined with stubbornly high poverty rates, leaves many people’s diets lacking…