-The Pioneer Raipur: Chhattisgarh the rice bowl of India has managed to maintain stable paddy production this year despite drought conditions prevailing in several districts of the State. The Indira Gandhi Agricultural University (IGAU) Scientists claim that except rainfall dependent fields which were devoid of showers, other regions in the State have continued to maintain the ‘good old agricultural standards’. “It is appreciable to notice that paddy farming had been carried out in...

-The Hindu Business Line Policy interventions, skill development enhance opportunities for farmers Agriculture, the largest livelihood generating activity, is fast transforming itself from a supply-driven to a demand-demand scenario. The discerning consumer (urban, rural and global) is increasingly demanding better quality, multiple choices, food safety and convenience. Diversification is the key to convene these changing demand patterns with supply, and more importantly, to act as an overall risk mitigant for the producer himself....

-The Times of India MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has acquired a staggering 1.92 lakh hectares of land - 4.4 times the size of Greater Mumbai - over nearly 15 years. These details have emerged from the latest data compiled by the state government and accessed by The Times of India. Information on land acquisition is rarely made available for public scrutiny. Most of the land acquired is agricultural and the bulk of...

-DNA Wondering about the plight of the rural population facing successive droughts which has to buy pulses, South Asia Network for Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) laments how no benefit of the price hike is reaching actual pulse farmers. While most link the current tur (pigeon pea) dal crisis with raging market prices, storage issues, hoarding and economics, a new study highlighting the making of the crisis - by South Asia Network...

The low rate of inflation of 3.88 percent in Consumer Food Price Index during September, 2015 actually hides the high prices at which various pulses (dal) are available in kirana / retail shops across India. In terms of Consumer Price Index (combined), monthly rate of inflation in pulses and products during September 2015 (over September last year) stood at 29.76 percent as compared to the overall monthly retail inflation of...