The forthcoming India visit of the US President, Mr Barack Obama, accompanied by Mr Thomas J. Vilsack, secretary of agriculture, and Dr Rajiv Raj Shah, administrator, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is significant in the context of strengthening the Indo-US partnership in the field of agriculture production and sustainable food security. Several related issues will be discussed in Mumbai on November 6 and November 7 where an agriculture...

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday announced an increase of Rs.40 per quintal in the State Advised Price (SAP) of sugarcane for the 2010-11crushing season, which normally begins in November. Describing the move as historic, Ms. Mayawati said such a hefty increase in the procurement price of the three varieties of sugarcane was the maximum, as none of the State governments had given so much raise. The decision to raise the...

With a double-digit food inflation, the increasing food prices will be the biggest concern for Indians over the next six months, a survey released here said Monday. According to the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index , China tops the countries concerned over increasing food prices with 36 percent of consumers in China voting it as the biggest concern over the next six months. India is fifth on the list of countries where...

The centre has asked the states to strengthen their public distribution systems (PDS) to minimise the impact of high inflation on the poor, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Monday. 'The central government has requested the states to strengthen their public distribution systems to ensure that the vulnerable groups of the society are not adversely affected by the current level of inflation,' Mukherjee said at the second annual conference of finance...

The new rabi grain pricing policy seems to have been influenced more by macro-concerns about food inflation management rather than any considerations relating to food production planning. The marginal increase in minimum support prices (MSPs) of most rabi crops, barring pulses, is understandable given the government’s focus on inflation reduction and the fact that this marginal increase comes on top of earlier hikes of a decent magnitude. Moreover, there are...