-Hindustan Times New Delhi: The government is readying a new policy framework to rein in the inflationary impact and stabilise the supply of pulses, a widely consumed but scarce food item with economy-wide implications. Three ministries – agriculture, food and finance – and the state-run policy think-tank Niti Aayog are coordinating efforts to frame the new measures that will see the government step in as one of the key importers of pulses. “The...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The government's first assessment of farm prospects six weeks into the monsoon season shows the country is heading for a record kharif harvest, which should boost rural income and calm food inflation, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said. Pulses output, which had fallen sharply after two years of drought, will rise 20% and cool prices for consumers, while farmers will gain from higher output and better prices...

-The Indian Express Agriculture Ministry’s harvest estimates don’t square with drought conditions in several cases, raise serious questions of credibility. We have had two consecutive drought years, yet India’s milk production, according to the Agriculture Ministry, has risen from 137.69 million tonnes (mt) in 2013-14 to 146.31 mt in 2014-15 and 160.35 mt in 2015-16. Never before has the country’s milk output grown at these rates — that too, in the face...

-The Hindu The Maharashtra government’s decision to promulgate an ordinance this week to exempt farmers from having to mandatorily sell their fruit and vegetable crop at mandis governed by a 1963 law on marketing farm produce, is a bold and laudable step. That Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stood his ground against the powerful lobby of middlemen, who shut shop in protest, is even more commendable. The problem with the present...

-PTI NEW DELHI: With pulses still ruling as high as Rs 200 per kg, the government today said it is taking several measures to boost domestic output and imports, besides taking action against hoarders to control rates. "The central government is taking several measures to control the price rise of pulses," Agriculture Ministry said in a statement. "On one hand, the government is trying to give relief to citizens by importing pulses from...