-The Business Standard   Food Corporation to restrict procurement of foodgrain from states announcing additional sops In a crackdown on the practice of states announcing bonuses on the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat and rice, the Centre has said Food Corporation of India (FCI) will restrict procurement of foodgrain from such states. This will be effective from the coming rice procurement (October 2014-September 2015) and wheat procurement (April 2015-March 2016) seasons. If states...

-The Hindu   A welter of problems may be in store for the country These are testing times for the Narendra Modi government in the farm and food sector: the south-west (June-September) monsoon is delayed, deficient and weak; kharif sowing, much of which is rain-fed, is lagging by over 17 per cent over last year; rising food prices are pushing up inflation and pulling down growth. Right now the prices of only perishable...

-The Hindu Business Line   Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (The more things change the more they remain the same ): A French proverb. In its earnest to tackle rising food inflation the new Government has taken a welcome initiative to delist fruits/ vegetables including onions (FVO) from the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act, while all other measures are as usual - short term of political expediency, repeated several...

-The Indian Express   The landmark Land Acquisition law made by the UPA government is being called for a review by the Centre.   With concerns that the UPA's land acquisition law may lead to procedural delay persisting, the NDA government has decided to formally "review" the implementation-related issues of the law in consultation with the state governments.   Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who holds addition charge of the Rural Development Ministry, has called a meeting...

-PTI   Patna: Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Saturday said the central government was working on a new crop insurance scheme to help farmers tackle flood, drought and plant diseases in a better manner. He said it will be launched soon across the country, as the existing scheme has not proved to be beneficial to the farmers. Details will be unveiled during the Budget session of the Parliament, he added. Singh also...