-The Economic Times PUNE: Vegetable farmers from Maharashtra, a major producer of vegetables in the country, will not be able to get new seed varieties this rabi season. The seed companies will have to give trials of their seeds on the lands of agricultural universities before seeking licences for marketing them in the state. The Maharashtra agriculture department has made it mandatory for the seed companies to give trial of their new...

-The Business Standard Onion crisis is a reminder of the need for retail reform Onion prices in towns have begun, finally, to come down. That follows a fresh harvest of onions in Karnataka and Maharashtra. But the price rise could happen again - unless its causes are realistically ascertained, and the right lessons drawn. The crisis was generally believed to have been triggered by low production, high exports and rampant hoarding. However,...

-The Hindu Bangalore: In a major shift in its lending practice, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has opened a lending window to the corporate sector for construction of warehouses and creation of cold storages and cold chains. NABARD had only been granting soft loans to State governments for social sector projects. Speaking to The Hindu on Monday, G.R. Chintala, Chief General Manager (CGM), Regional Office, Bangalore, said it was...

-Down to Earth Claim by GlaxoSmithKline that makes the milk supplement harps only on one aspect of study, which incidentally is funded by another multinational-Nestle A Horlicks advertisement that harps on how milk loses nutrients upon boiling in order to promote the milk supplement does not appear to be based on independent research. It turns out that one of the studies cited by the makers of Horlicks has been funded by Nestle...

-Press Information Bureau The India Rural Development Report 2012/13 was released here by Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Rural Development, Government of India. The Report was prepared by IDFC Foundation in collaboration with network partners, the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), the Institute for Rural Management Anand (IRMA), and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), with contributions from several other researchers, experts and civil society organisations. On...