-PTI NEW DELHI: The Centre has told the Supreme Court that though the country has become self sufficient in production of cereals, it is dependent on imports to bridge the gap between domestic production and demand of edible oil and pulses. Responding to a PIL on increasing farmer suicides in the country, the Ministry of Agriculture said in an affidavit, "India has not only ensured self-sufficiency in most of the agricultural crops...

-Business Standard Marriages on hold, children being returned from schools over unpaid fees; the rural economy is bearing the brunt of unseasonal rains, a crisis in the sugar cane sector and a fall in prices of farm pro Hapur/ Meerut: In the mid-afternoon, when most farmers are returning home to rest, Rana Ranjit Singh is sweating buckets on his farm in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district, searching for vegetables left undamaged after untimely...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Government has stepped up taking measures, well in advance, to avoid any situation of abnormal increase prices of onion and potato. Two major entities at national level - National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) and Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium (SFAC) - will be tasked to procure the two major kitchen staples and store them so that the supply can be pumped in when prices go...

-The Hindu Will try to bring figure down to 6% by Jan. 2016 The Centre and the Reserve Bank of India signed an agreement last month under which the central bank will prioritise controlling price rise above the other objectives of the monetary policy - interest rates and the foreign exchange rate. The agreement formalised a policy the Reserve Bank had been following since January 2014, which is a significant development in monetary...

Following the recommendations of the Shanta Kumar Committee report on restructuring of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), there are signs that the Central Government is in a hurry to replace the Public Distribution System (PDS) with cash transfers. The Government's intention has been revealed in two official letters (one dated 10 February 2015 and another dated 11 February 2015) that were sent from the Joint Secretary at Department of...