What to Read in Indian Express Editorial( Topic and Syllabus wise)

Editorial 1 : How FTAs with US, EU, UK will impact India’s farm trade

Context

India’s agriculture exports are currently higher than its imports. But that trade surplus could shrink with rising imports, supply-demand mismatches, and pressures to cut tariffs and provide greater market access.

The trade story

• India’s agriculture exports rose 6.4% to $51.9 billion in 2024-25, from $48.8 billion during the preceding fiscal year ended March 2024.
• A longer period trend reveals India’s agriculture exports declining between 2013-14 and 2019-20, before recovering and peaking in 2022-23.
• On the whole, the increase was from $43.3 billion in 2013-14 to $51.9 billion in 2024-25 or just over 20%.
• Imports, in contrast, have posted steadier expansion from $15.5 billion in 2013-14 to an all-time-high of $38.5 billion in 2024-25, working out to 148%.
• India’s agriculture trade surplus, too, has more than halved from $27.7 billion to $13.4 billion over this period.
• All this comes even as India is negotiating trade agreements with the United States and European Union, which are both seeking tariff reductions and greater market access for their agricultural products.

Export drivers

• The No. 1 export commodity, marine products, has registered a drop in 2022-23 in the following two fiscals.
• Marine exports from India are largely to the US (roughly 35% share), China (20%) and the EU (15%).
• Shipments to the US, predominantly frozen shrimps, now attract 17.7% duty.That includes the 10% baseline tariff imposed recently.
• There are no such worries with rice, where the value of both non-basmati and basmati shipments reached record levels in 2024-25.
• The bulk of India’s basmati goes to West Asia, while it is Africa for non-basmati grain.
• Rice apart, exports of spices, tobacco, coffee and fruits & vegetables (both fresh and processed) scaled new highs during the last fiscal.
• Coffee exports from India got a boost from global ending stocks for 2024-25 depleting to a 25-year low, on the back of drought in Brazil and dry weather followed by a typhoon in Vietnam.
• India mostly exports robusta beans and powder used in instant coffee and espresso blends.
• Poor crops in Brazil and Zimbabwe last year likewise benefitted Indian tobacco exporters.
• Spices are an interesting case, where both exports from and imports into India surged to record levels in 2024-25.
• India is a preeminent exporter of chilli, cumin, mint products, oleoresins, curry powder/paste and other non-traditional spices such as turmeric, coriander, fennel, ginger and garlic.
• On the other hand, it has become a net importer of the two traditional plantation spices, namely pepper and cardamom.
• The commodities whose exports have suffered on account of domestic supply shortfalls include wheat, sugar and cotton.
• India continues to export refined/white sugar.However, this is from processing imported raw sugar, the value of which has correspondingly gone up.
• Cotton is a sad story, where India’s exports had crossed $4.3 billion in 2011-12 and $3.7 billion in 2012-13.
• Exports have not only collapsed, but the country has turned into a net importer of the natural fibre.
• Buffalo meat exports surpassed $4 billion in 2024-25, but are still below the $4.4 billion and $4.8 billion levels touched in 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively.

Import drivers

• Coming to imports, the big-ticket items remain vegetable oils and pulses.
• Low per-acre yields relative to rice and wheat, plus no equivalent system of minimum support price-based government procurement, have made it less viable for Indian farmers to ramp up production of oilseeds and pulses.
• The result is a soaring import bill.In vegetable oils, it’s only partly offset by exports of oilseeds (mainly groundnut and sesame) and the residual cake/meal after extraction of oil.
• Pulses imports were valued at $5.5 billion in 2024-25, pushing past the $5 billion mark for the first time.

But it isn’t just edible oil and pulses.

• Stagnant, if not falling, domestic production is also leading to rising imports of cotton and natural rubber.
• With no yield-raising technologiesafter genetically modified (GM) Bt hybrids, India’s cotton output has dipped between 2013-14 and 2024-25. Rubber production, too.
• This, even as domestic consumption has inched up from 10 lt to 15 lt during the past decade.
• The other significant agri import items are fruits (almonds, pistachios, walnuts, apples, dates, figs and raisins, among others), spices (basically pepper and cardamom) and alcoholic beverages.

Conclusion

With the signing of trade pacts with the US, EU and the United Kingdom, one can expect more imports of dry fruits, wines and spirits. Additionally, the Trump administration is likely to push for import duty cuts and easing non-tariff barriers on maize, soyabean and cotton. All this will ultimately reflect in India’s agricultural exports, imports and the surplus – whether that would further shrink remains to be seen.

 

Editorial 2 : How the Madden-Julian Oscillation helped trigger the early onset of the monsoon

Context

The southwest monsoon arrived in Kerala on May 24, eight days earlier than the normal onset date, it reached Mumbai two weeks in advance on May 26.

The phenomenon behind

• Several large-scale atmospheric-oceanic and local factors developed and favoured the early monsoon onset but one of the key drivers was the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO),according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
• The phenomenon takes its name from the two scientists who identified it in 1971 — Roland Madden and Paul Julian.

What is MJO?

• The MJO is a moving system of winds, cloud, and pressure that brings rain as it circles around the equator.
• The system typically travels eastward at a speed of 4-8 metres per second. It goes around the globe in 30-60 days on average, but can sometimes take 90 days.
• As it moves, strong MJO activity often splits the planet into two parts— one in which the MJO is in active phase and brings rainfall, and the other in which it suppresses rainfall.
• In the active phase, MJO results in higher-than-average rainfall for that time of the year, while in the suppressed phase, the area receives less than average rainfall.
• An active phase is generally followed by a weak or suppressed phase, in which there is little MJO activity.

Typical Features of MJO

• The MJO is characterised by an eastward-moving ‘pulse’ of cloud, wind, and rainfall near the equator.
• The MJO typically recurs every 30 to 60 days.
• The MJO is most prominent over the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
• The MJO influences tropical and subtropical weather patterns, affecting rainfall and storm activity.
• The oscillation has distinct phases, each associated with weather patterns and cloud cover variations and precipitation variations.

Effect in tropical region

• The effect of the MJO is witnessed mainly in the tropical region, in the band between 30 degrees North and 30 degrees
• South of the equator, even though the mid-latitude regions in both hemispheres also feel its impact.
• India falls in this band.As the MJO cycle lasts only 30-60 days, there can be multiple MJO events in a season.

MJO and El Nino

• There is some evidence that the MJO and El Niño — the unusual warming of sea-surface Pacific waters off the South American coast — are correlated.
• Thus, strong MJO activity, like this year, is witnessed in a year of strong El Niño.
• However, the correlation is not exclusive: a strong El Niño year — the strength being a measure of the increase of temperature of sea surface water — is generally associated with a bad monsoon.

Influence on the Indian Monsoon

• The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), El Nino, and MJO are all oceanic and atmospheric phenomena that affect weather on a large scale.
• IOD only pertains to the Indian Ocean, but the other two affect weather globally up to the mid-latitudes.
• While the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Niño remain fixed in their respective positions, the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a traversing phenomenonthat progresses through eight phases.
• When the Madden Julian Oscillation is over the Indian Ocean during the monsoon season, it enhances rainfall across the Indian subcontinent.
• On the other hand, when it witnesses a longer cycle and stays over the Pacific Ocean, the Madden Julian Oscillation brings bad news for the Indian Monsoon.
• It is linked with enhanced and suppressed rainfall activity in the tropics and is very important for the Indian monsoonal rainfall.

Conclusion

MJO significantly affects weather patterns on a global scale by modulating rainfall and storm activity across the tropics. Understanding the Madden Julian Oscillation behaviour is crucial for accurate weather forecasting, climate prediction, and managing the impacts of extreme weather events.