-PTI Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said Friday the government will take all measures to ensure that onion prices do not go up to the Rs 80-100 per kg level again, seeking to quell fears of a spike in the festive season ahead. The monsoon was late, so the kharif or summer onion crop would be delayed by a month in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the main growing areas. This could...
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Delayed seeds of reform -Ashok Gulati
-The Financial Express Controlling food inflation seems to have pre-occupied the attention of the Modi government, at least for now, and it has succeeded in minimising the damage despite a poor monsoon. The Modi government had to hit the ground running as far as food and agriculture is concerned. With delayed and deficient rains in June and the spectre of El Nino, drought was looming large. Food inflation was stubbornly stuck at...
More »Farmers against bringing onions under Essential Commodities Act -Dilip Kumar Jha
-The Business Standard Won't sow next season if Rs 15 MSP not declared and govt does not procure at market driven price, scarcity seen in 2015-16 Lasalgaon (Maharashtra): Arjun Kadam, a farmer here, has vowed not to sow the onion crop next season because of the government's frequent intervention to keep prices low, in many cases lower than the cost of production. Thousands of farmers such as Kadam have voiced concern over the...
More »Agriculture not out of the woods yet -Dharmakirti Joshi, Neha Duggar Saraf & Sakshi Gupta
-The Financial Express Though food inflation could be lower than last year's 11.1%, fruit and vegetable prices remain the pressure points. Concerns over monsoon have diminished a lot in recent weeks because of four positive developments. First, rainfall deficiency has reduced sharply from a century-high of 45% for June to 17% as on August 18. Second, sowing has caught up significantly from 40% below normal in mid-July to just 2.3% below normal...
More »Betting the farm on populism-Ajay Vir Jakhar
-The Business Standard The Budget missed the chance to articulate its intentions to the farming community; the prime minister's Independence Day speech provides another invaluable opportunity Young Indians starting their careers in an environment devoid of hope and opportunity and surviving on dole will be inclined to populist politics. But the farming community expects much more substance from the government, and the Budget was a good example of how populism trumped...
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