Despite an outcry from the garment exporters , the government is keen on allowing excess cotton to be exported from the country before the US cotton hits the international market in January and brings prices down. The inter-ministerial committee on cotton will meet end of the month to look at fresh production figures and will take a call on whether the present export cap of 55 lakh should be lifted. “We just...

The government will use satellite technology to assess cotton prospects for the current season and review the export policy in the wake of rising prices of the natural fibre, a senior official said today. "When the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) meets, it will have an assessment based on the satellite imagery and the inputs of the Ministry of Agriculture," Textiles Secretary Rita Menon said on the sidelines of a Ficci function...

A lot has been said and written about the visit of Barack Obama, the President of USA to India. The corporate media was in the usual over-enthusiastic drive to bring to its readers and viewers all minute details about his visit from where he stayed and what he ate to how many warships, planes and cars accompanied him and how a whopping $200 million was spent per day for the...

A high-level working group of the Government of India has approved the idea of outbound foreign direct investment by Indians in the production of pulses and oilseeds aimed at meeting domestic demand. This is not a new idea. Since arable land in India is fast shrinking and efforts to lift the output of pulses and oilseeds, besides some other essential commodities, are not bearing fruit, investing in land elsewhere for...

The new rabi grain pricing policy seems to have been influenced more by macro-concerns about food inflation management rather than any considerations relating to food production planning. The marginal increase in minimum support prices (MSPs) of most rabi crops, barring pulses, is understandable given the government’s focus on inflation reduction and the fact that this marginal increase comes on top of earlier hikes of a decent magnitude. Moreover, there are...