-DNA State policies favouring certain food crops have rendered pulses forbiddingly expensive and the common man is feeling the pinch The huge spurt in dal prices, touching Rs180 per kilogram and even Rs200 in some cities, has come as a dampener to the festive season, and raised questions about the policies of the government. For some years now, India has been resorting to huge imports of pulses to meet domestic demand...

-The Hindu Government sources told The Hindu that at PDS packaging centres, new unbranded bags were being replaced with used ones. Jute bags meant for packaging of foodgrains under the Public Distribution System (PDS) allegedly provided their manufacturers — in league with some officials of procuring State government agencies, quality insurance inspectors and middlemen — an opportunity to siphon off thousands of crores in government revenue. So serious is the scam that the...

-Down to Earth Reasons behind the trend include high inventory levels, lower oil prices and renewed strength of the US dollar The Food Outlook report released on Thursday states that agricultural commodities are going through a period of lower prices and less volatility. After dramatic price rise from 2007 till early 2011, cereal and vegetable oil prices are now steady as well as on the decline, the biannual publication of the Food...

-The Indian Express Government’s actions on the commodity reveals it is ignorant of how a market economy is run With each passing day this year, agriculture seems to be sagging and so is the Indian farmer. Deficit monsoon rains appear to be the trigger. Although rains offered some respite to Marathwada, the situation in India’s largest agri-state, Uttar Pradesh, has gone from bad to worse. Last year’s drought, with monsoon rains falling...

-NDTV Bihar: It's been a week since people of Katihar's Labha, a village about 300 kilometers from Patna, has boycotted 45-year-old Mohd Akhtar and his family. Mr Akhtar runs a Fair Price Shop which is responsible for distributing essential grains at subsidised rates under the government's Public Distribution System.   A meeting of village elders last week charged Mr Akhtar with fraud. "He never gives us our full quota. Sometimes he gives us...