-IANS Farmers of Assam, that recently boasted of having a record rice harvest, are losing interest in paddy cultivation, saying they were facing financial ruin in the absence a minimum support price and adequate Procurement centres for their produce. Rice production is going down as the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has not fixed the price to buy back the farmers’ produce, say farmers’ representatives. And there are only 20 FCI Procurement...

-The Pioneer The mega exercise of wheat Procurement from farmers on support price will get underway from March 15 in Madhya Pradesh. Till May 20, about 65 lakh metric tonne of wheat will be purchased from farmers in 67 days at the rate of about one lakh metric tonne per day. Under the scheme, e-Procurement system has been adopted for the first time in the State in order to prevent any irregularity...

-PTI Amid reports that potato and onion farmers were dumping their produce due to fall in prices, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today assured Parliament that a scheme is in place to share the loss incurred by the growers.  The Agriculture Ministry implements a Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), after it receives proposals from state government on the need for Procurement of agricultural and horticultural crops, Pawar said in a reply to a query...

India's use of the compulsory licensing provision under its patents law for the first time to make the patented cancer drug Nexavar available at affordable prices is an essential, although belated step to curb the mounting cost of drugs. The grant of the licence by the Controller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks to Natco Pharma for manufacture of the drug Sorafenib Tosylate (Nexavar) to treat liver and kidney cancer is...

A non-government organisation campaigning for cheaper essential drugs has proposed an alternative pricing model that seeks to fix retail prices at the average price of all brands in a segment.  The proposal of the All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN) is being examined by the department of pharmaceuticals (DoP), an official said. AIDAN says its new pricing mechanism, which excludes brands that account for the top 20% by sales, will make...