A recent press release by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) shows that the declared minimum support price (MSP) for most kharif crops to be marketed in 2019-20 is at least 50 percent above the cost of production. The official information related to the newly declared MSP, which came two days ahead of the Union Budget presentation, gives the impression that the newly re-elected NDA government has kept its promise...

-TheWire.in Scientists have found that, compared to rice, alternative grains experienced smaller declines in yield under climate extremes. However, there is a catch. Alternative grains like millets and sorghum could help India cope better with the impact of global heating on agriculture and variations in supply than continuing to rely on rice and wheat alone. This is the heartening conclusion of a new study, but it also cautions that the cultivation area...

-Newsclick.in “Our population today is around 136 crore. Where will you get food grains for them through zero budget farming? This is sheer madness.” There is an inherent seductive charm to the term zero budget natural farming, for it makes the arduous occupation of agriculture appear beguilingly simple, an economic proposition without any risk or even requirement of capital. Coined by the Vidarbha-based farmer, Subhash Palekar, who was bestowed with the Padma...

-The Indian Express The story of rice in India is complex, influenced as much by geography as by taste, faith, politics and contemporary nutrition science. But, after years of getting panned for being unhealthy, it is finally making its way back to the centre of the table. Is Basmati rice, with its pristinely white grain, the only variety that lends itself to making a biryani? It seems a rather silly question...

-The Hindu Business Line Shift of focus to maize, sorghum, millets would help: Research Hyderabad: Excessive focus on cereal production and the resulting pressure on groundwater in some States is no news. But this, a UK-based researcher contends, means that some States are actually ‘exporting’ their scarce groundwater when they market the cereals. A study by a group of researchers from academic and research institutes from the UK, Germany and India has suggested...