-Business Standard Says all Central decisions are in interest of farmers including the control price one Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Monday that the government would not allow seed companies such as US biotechnology major Monsanto to exploit Indian farmers. The government would continue to regulate seed prices in the interest of growers, he added. The minister’s comments sparked off a ‘sell’ in Monsanto India shares in the stock markets...

-The Indian Express Substantial number of interest subvention scheme loans are diverted to non-agricultural uses. Government must switch to an income-support subsidy regime The Union budget for 2016-17 has provisioned Rs 15,000 crore on account of interest subvention for short-term agricultural credit, up by Rs 2,000 crore over the revised estimate for FY16. The mere shifting of this line item from the department of financial services to the department of agriculture...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Farmers in UP's Bundelkhand region will get drought assistance directly into their bank accounts within a week, with the Samajwadi party government set to disburse Rs 1,304 crore out of its drought-assistance kitty given to it by the Centre. The decision was taken during a review meeting on the drought-affected Bundelkhand region by the Prime Minister's Office on Saturday. A provision to extend man-days from 100...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Unwilling to take any chances with rainfall this year, the Maharashtra government plans to undertake cloud-seeding in parts of the state at the start of monsoon, especially over water supply schemes that provide water to the parched Marathwada region. The experiment was conducted last year between August and November, but officials say the project wasn't very effective as there weren't enough moisture-laden clouds and it was only...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government has rubbished media reports that performance of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee programme in the current fiscal year will suffer due to arrears of wages of over Rs 8000 crore in 2015-16. Stating that certain facts in the reports have been highlighted without appreciating the larger picture, the government has clarified that is committed to ensure flow of adequate resources to the programme...