-The Hindu M.P., Gujarat likely to opt for new payment scheme Despite patchy rainfall in some parts, the Agriculture Ministry has set a foodgrain production target of 285.2 million tonnes for 2018-19, a marginal increase from the previous year’s harvest of 284.8 million tonnes. Rainfall deficit during the current monsoon season is now at 10%, according to the Indian Meteorological Department. “Some areas got extra rainfall, some areas were deficient. But in spite of...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The government is optimistic of another bumper harvest with output to be similar to last year’s or better, as crop planting and the monsoon season are at the tail end. It also doesn’t expect floods to have any major impact on production. However, some analysts raised concerns over the distribution of rains that they said were erratic, and in deficit in several states. But trade doesn’t expect...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's state governments often set their minimum wages lower than the recommended national minimum wage, decided by the Union labour ministry, a report by the International Labour Organisation has said. It has added that the minimum wages often show large inter-state variations, unrelated to the cost of living, for the same kind of job. This is because the Minimum Wages Act of 1948 does not say on what...

-PTI New Delhi: India’s foodgrain production is estimated to grow to an all-time high of 284.83 million tonnes in the 2017-18 crop year ending June, driven by record output in wheat, rice, coarse cereals and pulses after a normal monsoon, according to the Agriculture Ministry. Wheat output has been pegged at record 99.70 million tonnes, rice at Rs 112.91 million tonnes and pulses at 25.23 million tonnes for the 2017-18 crop year,...

-Firstpost.com Farmers across India are sceptical about the promised benefits of the minimum support price (MSP) promised by the government for their kharif crop. In a press release, the government announced that the MSP would be set at 50 percent over the cost of production and vowed to double farmers’ incomes by 2022. As Amrinder Singh Punia, a farmer and general secretary of the Punjab Agricultural University Kisan Club, points out, “Government...