-The Indian Express Raising agricultural exports requires the government to unburden policy of consumer bias. A balance should be struck between meeting the needs of food-insecure consumers and income-insecure farmers. The Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh, recently tweeted about the government’s resolve to increase the value of the country’s agricultural exports to $100 billion by 2022-23. The Dalwai Committee Report on doubling farmers’ incomes also talked of a similar target. It said,...

-Financial Express If the government implements the assured minimum support price at one and a half times the production cost, as promised, it would jack up consumer prices of jowar and distort the market dynamics of the “poor man’s cereal”. Besides, the measure would also dampen exports, analysts warn. At 150% of the cost (A2+FL), the MSP for jowar for the next season could be at least 37% higher than the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A study conducted by border guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) on "Human Trafficking on Indo-Nepal border" claims the number of victims brought illegally into the country has gone up by 500% since 2013 with girls trafficked from villages and Terai region of Nepal sold to brothel owners in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and other cities for up to Rs 50,000. In 2013, 108 girls/children were rescued...

-The Hindu Business Line NGO says antibiotic misuse has made these farms breeding grounds for superbugs New Delhi: New Delhi-based non-governmental organisation Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Tuesday accused the domestic poultry industry of twisting facts from one of its earlier studies to show that chicken produced in the country was safe for consumption. Terming it a “complete misrepresentation”, CSE strongly objected to the way results of a 2014 study were...

-The Hindu Rather than just increased budgetary outlays, farmers need plans that will rescue them from crop failure Similar to the last two Budgets, this year’s pro-agriculture intentions are palpable through increased outlays to the agricultural sector and initiation of various programmes. They seem impressive, but closer scrutiny shows that the measures may be of little help to stem the tide of agrarian distress. There are some real challenges confronting three...