-The Hindu Business Line Govt also revises Rabi target upwards to 14.4 million tonnes Bengaluru: Higher acreage, driven by the rebound in monsoon rainfall this year, is seen lifting the country’s pulses production by about 48 per cent in the current kharif season to around 8.22 million tonnes (mt) against 5.54 mt produced in the corresponding season last year, according to the Agriculture Ministry. Production of arhar or tur is seen up by...

-PTI N Chandrababu Naidu said access to electricity was a key socio-economic development indicator, but this was an area where there was still a significant gap in India. Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh has become the second state in the country after Gujarat to achieve 100 per cent electrification of households, a latest report has said. JM Financials published the report based on a national-level survey on electrification in various states. Discussing this through a tele-conference with top officials...

-The Hindu The imposition of Aadhaar-based biometric authentication in the Public Distribution System threatens to disrupt recent progress with PDS reforms. It also deprives millions of people of essential food entitlements. India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) has improved steadily during the last 10 years. The system used to be most ineffective and corruption-ridden, with leakages of around 50 per cent at the national level, going up to 80 or 90 per cent...

-Livemint.com While higher crop acreage should ensure positive growth, much depends on how September rains pan out and the kind of platform it lays out for the next crop season Caution is finally setting in for agriculture inputs stocks. As the weather office released two rain deficit reports (on a cumulative basis), shares of Rallis India Ltd, Dhanuka Agritech Ltd and Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd lost a bit of...

-Livemint.com Small farmers reaped a bumper crop defying a drought and despite price shocks and pest-related risks New Delhi: Small farmers across India reaped a bumper crop of fruits and vegetables in 2015-16 defying a widespread drought. India’s horticulture output crossed a record 283 million tonnes, shows the third advance estimate released by the agriculture ministry on Monday. However, the story is not just about a record harvest during a drought year—primarily due...