-The Telegraph   Supaul: A college graduate hailing from a farmers' family, Anil Kumar Yadav (32) roamed around in Delhi and Mumbai in search of a job only to return empty-handed, about three years ago. The very idea of getting engaged in the family's traditional vocation was "nightmarish" to him. Anil, a resident of Samda Chowk village under Basantpur block of Supaul district, around 350km northeast of Patna, today owns a spanking motorcycle,...

-The Hindustan Times   Already struggling with milk crisis, the state's residents may now face a shortage of onions, as onion traders in Nasik went on an indefinite strike from Monday. Nasik is a major onion supplier to Jharkhand and onion prices are likely to go up if the strike continues. "Nasik meets 40-50% of state's demand of onions. So, prices will go up for sure, if supply reduces. We hope the strike...

-The Financial Express   With newer varieties and improvement in yield, packaging and marketing, basmati-long hailed as the ‘king of rice'-is spreading its sweet aroma worldwide WALK INTO any supermarket today and the most eye-catching items will be in the section selling packaged rice. Rice, that humble, century-old staple of the Indian diet, has emerged from its traditional image-grains in an open gunny bag-to a slick new avatar. Today, rice, and basmati in...

-Mid Day   A visit to the APMC in Vashi revealed that calcium carbide - referred to as ‘carpet' by traders - which is known to cause cancer, food poisoning, nausea etc - is being used indiscriminately to ripen the fruit faster, so as to increase sales Think before you sink your teeth into those juicy, delicious mangoes. For, they could have been ripened artificially using calcium carbide, a deadly chemical that is...

-The Times of India   AHMEDABAD: Consumers are having a grand time gobbling up succulent mangoes. Not just because of the fall in wholesale market price, but also because now some enterprising farmers in Saurashtra are bypassing market yards and taking their produce directly to the consumer by selling them at the roadside. Farmers say that not only do they get low prices in the market yard, but are also forced to pay...