Sugar millers are cancelling import contracts due to a drop in domestic prices and are unlikely to sign new deals on expectations of a surge in local output, a top industry official told Reuters. The contracts had been signed late last year and early this year when domestic sugar prices rose to a record and the production outlook was lower. Since then the price has fallen by a third and the...

No one will deny that the least a democratic government can do for its people in a civilised society is to ensure access to food at a reasonable price. Ensuring food security is, therefore, a fundamental responsibility of the state. However, it is not clear if enacting a Food Security Bill is the best way to go about it. India has become a democracy of laws. On paper, every citizen...

Proposal to set up mega food park in each State Three boards to be set up to promote processing of fisheries, soybean and guar gum Food processing industry accounts for 14 per cent of the total industrial output The Food Processing Ministry will give priority to farmers, self-help groups and women for providing grant-in-aid in setting up food processing enterprises. It has also identified Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir...

SAMBALPUR: In order to tide over prevailing food crisis, Agriculture Department has embarked on an ambitious plan to boost farm output in the district during the ensuing kharif. As per available data, paddy will be cultivated on 1,04,500 hectares of land during the forthcoming kharif against 99,533 hectares last time. The department will give special emphasis for cultivation of high-yielding variety (HYV) of paddy to augment production. As per plan, high-yielding variety...

India’s annual monsoon rains should revive in two days after a 10-day lull, the weather office said on Monday, raising hopes for a pick-up in soybean planting in the world’s biggest edible oils buyer. The June-September rainfall, which irrigates 60% of the country’s farms and drives rural incomes, is vital for the trillion-dollar economy. A healthy rainfall despite the slow progress could help Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tame high double-digit food...