-PTI The issue was raised by the American side during the US-India Trade Policy Forum meeting Washington: India has said that the recent order that removed "stock limit exemptions" for pulses held by importers as part of its effort to address the shortage of pulses and prevent undue hoarding is "not a trade distortion". The issue was raised by the American side during the US-India Trade Policy Forum meeting here after the US...

-The Hindu Agricultural experts say small farmers are working under severe economic constraints — their earnings are very low and they are indebted — and hence many are compelled to leave farming. Punjab’s farming sector is in crisis and showing signs of sickness as it suffers from falling productivity and shrinking returns. Farmers are reeling under debt, and owing to low profitability, small farmers, in particular, are quitting farming. In the past...

-Livemint.com Though pulsations may eventually ease, it is time to think of long-term cures Pulses have been throbbing hard and loud in India for sometime now. And not only because of prices, but also the pace in which it accelerated to 30% annually last month, three times the rate of increase six months ago. Besides angry television anchors and electoral evocations, hoarding, raids and truck thefts have set hearts thumping too....

-The Hindu Business Line Policy interventions, skill development enhance opportunities for farmers Agriculture, the largest livelihood generating activity, is fast transforming itself from a supply-driven to a demand-demand scenario. The discerning consumer (urban, rural and global) is increasingly demanding better quality, multiple choices, food safety and convenience. Diversification is the key to convene these changing demand patterns with supply, and more importantly, to act as an overall risk mitigant for the producer himself....

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: It will be a 'do or die' situation for India's Basmati, which occupies pride of place in the country's agricultural trade, when the Chennai-based Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) next week takes a call on granting 'GI' (geographical indicator) tag to the world famous long grain aromatic variety of rice. Chances of it getting the tag depends on whether India joins hands with Pakistan to...