-The Economic Times PUNE/NEW DELHI: Pulses will likely remain beyond the reach for many in 2016 as well. Even though a fresh kharif crop has started arriving in the market, whole beans of tur (pigeon pea) cost twice as much as last year because the output is expected to be smaller. Government agencies that entered the market to create a buffer stock for next year are finding it tough to buy tur because...

-Livemint.com The most glaring implication of the proposed deficiency payments is that it makes the state give up its responsibility of intervening in markets During the past few months, there has been a highly contested debate on the merits, viability and feasibility of crop insurance in India given the large number of small farmers and the large amount of subsidy involved that is not being effectively used as the coverage of...

-The Times of India After a bruising battle between the rich countries and blocs of not-so-rich ones, the Nairobi World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting of 160 nations failed to reach an agreement on an issue that directly affects 250 million farmers and farm workers in India. One of the bitterest fights, continuing from previous rounds, saw India lead a group of nearly 50 developing countries to stave off attempts by richer...

-The Hindu Business Line A CAG report has laid bare the fact that rice millers have for decades reaped undue gains even as they failed to replenish the national food stock Much like rice spilling out of a tear in the sack, the country’s food Procurement system has been leaking crores of rupees every year and impoverishing the government. Last week, in a report presented to Parliament the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG)...

-The Financial Express The perennial gap between allocation of grain meant for the public distribution system by the Food Corporation of India, the principal Procurement agency, and the lifting of such grains The perennial gap between allocation of grain meant for the public distribution system by the Food Corporation of India, the principal Procurement agency, and the lifting of such grains by the states has narrowed considerably in recent months, reports Sandip...