India has large wheat stocks already yet policy dictates they increase. In states like Punjab, Haryana, UP and Gujarat prices have fallen and are below the minimum support prices. This is a policy-induced outcome. A safe game in grains is fine, given the global politics of grain trade and the great ability of Indian politics to subsidise the wrong man in the vote bank — but how safe is safe? The...

-The Hindu   The Department of Organic and Seed Certification has certified 93,552 tonnes seed from the Paddy, millets, pulses, cotton, oil seeds and vegetable varieties. The purpose behind certifying the seeds was to convey to the farmers that they could be assured of the purity of the seeds, the department said in a press release. The purity of the seeds had been maintained and that they were of good quality. The Seed...

-The Hindu   The government has approved the recommendations of the expert committee formed to suggest alternatives to the pesticides banned by it recently. The government asked Kerala Agricultural University to conduct study on the quality and utility of the alternatives, recommended on an interim basis, and examine whether better alternatives were available. The expert committee recommended ten pesticides in lieu of carbofuran which is used against certain pests in Paddy and other...

-Press Trust of India   The food ministry has opposed the proposal of the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) to hike the support price of Paddy by R160 per quintal to R1,160 per quintal for 2011-12 crop year. Paddy minimum support price (common grade) was at R1,000 per quintal last year. The CACP, which suggests minimum support price (MSP) of 40 agri-commodities, has recommended support price for Paddy (common grade)...

The National Agro Foundation is on a mission to improve yield and income, especially for small farmers. Anyone planning to improve the lot of farmers in the country would do well to begin with these wise words: “Fallowness is in one's mind and not in the soil.” This was constantly uttered by C. Subramaniam, the architect of India's agricultural policies that led to the Green Revolution. While his policies and high-yielding varieties...