Punjab-based farmers, who are known for feeding the country, now want to try their hands offshore, with a group of progressive farmers all set to acquire 50,000 hectares of farm land on lease in Ethiopia for growing high-value cash crops, including pulses and maize. "We will be inking a deal with the Ethiopia government next month for getting at least 50,000 hectares of area for growing crops like pulses and...

India’s monsoon rains were 19% above normal in the week to 15 Sept., the weather office said on Thursday, feeding concern cotton and groundnut harvests could be further delayed in Asia’s third-largest economy. “The monsoon withdrawal is unlikely at least in the next couple of days,” said a senior official of the weather office who did not wish to be named. Rains had already exceeded averages by 26% in the previous week. Signs...

The Government on Thursday approved the Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS). Significantly, private sector insurers with adequate infrastructure and experience will also be allowed in the implementation of MNAIS. “With the introduction of the modified scheme, it is expected that an increased number of farmers will be able to manage risk in agriculture production in a better way and will succeed in stabilising farm income particularly at times of crop failure...

Asks the regulator to wait till end of festive season to prevent price speculation. The ministry of food and pubic distribution system has proposed to the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) to extend the ban on trading of sugar futures till the festive season is over. Officials said recommendations have been sent to the regulator to prevent any scope of speculation in the sugar prices at a time when prices of all commodities...

The neo-colonial rush for global farmland has gone exponential since the food scare of 2007-2008. Last week's long-delayed report by the World Bank suggests that purchases in developing countries rose to 45m hectares in 2009, a ten-fold jump from levels of the last decade. Two thirds have been in Africa, where institutions offer weak defence. As is by now well-known, sovereign wealth funds from the Mid-East, as well as state-entities from China,...