On the approval and direction of Union Agriculture Ministry to contain stress sale by farmers, the Rajasthan Government will start procurement of fresh bajra produce at Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 880 per quintal in 16 out of 33 districts from November one. Rajfed would buy bajra at 44 procurement centres, while Food Corporation of India at 25 centres, the Food and Civil Supply Minister Babulal Nagar told in a...

Farmers from Vidarbha and Marathwada regions will hold Maharashtra's first 'Kapus Parishad' (Cotton Conclave) here Oct 26 where they will demand higher prices for cotton, an activist said here Sunday. Organised by NGO Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), the conference will seek the government's intervention in increasing the prices of raw cotton from the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs.3,000 per quintal to Rs.4,500 per quintal. 'Cotton is the biggest cash crop...

While the National Advisory Council (NAC), Planning Commission and the Prime Minister Office are grappling over the proposed National Food Security Bill, the government has been steadily increasing allocation under the Targetted Public Distribution System (TPDS) during last many years. According to Siraj Hussain, chairman and managing director, Food Corporation of India (FCI), with the rise in procurement of wheat and rice by the corporation during last few years, more and...

75% of population to get 35 kg of foodgrains; 20 kg for rest After months of hard bargaining with the Planning Commission and the government, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) on Saturday appeared to have got a consensus on a universal food security system with legal guarantees, even though with differential entitlements. However, the NAC has expanded the concept of below the poverty line (BPL)-PDS beneficiaries, virtually doubling their number...

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the farm lobby reacted sharply today to the Centre’s announcement of the Minimum Support Price for Wheat. The Centre yesterday had announced a nominal hike of Rs 20 in the MSP, fixing it at Rs 1,120 per quintal. Describing it as a ‘stab in the back’, the Punjab CM claimed that the MSP fixed for wheat is lower than the rate at which the...