-Livemint.com The agriculture sector saw a 94% increase in allocation, but an analysis of the numbers suggest that the real hike is a modest 27% New Delhi: In a bid to revive growth in agriculture and improve farm incomes, at a time when rural India is weathering a protracted period of distress, the Union Budget presented on Monday placed a renewed focus on the farm sector by increasing funds for crop insurance...

-Livemint.com Increased funding to go into irrigation schemes, crop insurance, national e-market for farm produce, pulse production and interest subsidy New Delhi: In a major push for agriculture in the Union budget, funding for the recently launched crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has been more than doubled from Rs.2,589 crore in 2015-16 (budget estimate) to Rs.5,500 crore for 2016-17. The budget announced on Monday placed a renewed focus...

-Livemint.com Spending on irrigation, crop insurance to be doubled; e-platform to be developed for farm produce New Delhi: The government is set to double annual spending on irrigation and crop insurance, and develop a national digital platform for farm produce in order to ensure better prices for farmers, as part of a push to reduce rural distress following the first back-to-back drought in India in three decades. “We’re expecting that the new...

-The Hindu Business Line The absence of a strong framework can hold up productivity improvements. But GEAC is better than having no regulator at all The clamour for the state to regulate (as against the powers of the legally mandated regulatory agency), field trials of bio-technology seeds for cotton and then mustard, is truly extraordinary. It has serious long-term consequences for the economy. The challenges to the Genetic Engineering Advisory Council’s powers to regulate the...

-Business Standard The move comes after a joint action panel recommended use of traditional varieties as they were immune to pest attacks Chandigarh: Farmer suicides in Punjab and Haryana in the aftermath of extensive damage to the cotton crop in 2015-16 due to pest attack has led to a swing in official opinion against genetically modified (Bt) seeds. A Joint Action Committee was appointed by the two state governments on the causes and...