-Livemint.com Pulses are important from the perspectives of food security, environmental sustainability and balanced nutrition Most pulses such as pigeon pea (tur dal), black gram (urad), green gram (mung), field beans (waal), moth beans (matki) and horse gram (kulith) are native to the Indian subcontinent and have been an integral part of our diet for centuries. However, the single-minded focus on cereals over the last 50 years—the green revolution in wheat and...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The comptroller and auditor general has initiated an audit of entities claiming tax exemption on agricultural income amid suggestions from some political parties and income tax authorities that a blanket exemption be done away with and tax be levied after a threshold. The auditor has written to the finance ministry seeking details of entities which have declared agricultural income and the amount of tax exemption...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The countrywide monsoon rainfall this season was three per cent below average instead of the predicted six per cent above average, but it was distributed well enough to promise good crop yields, scientists said. An end-of-season analysis by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows that the quantum of the all-India rainfall was about 97 per cent of the long-period average. It also reveals that 27 of the country’s 35...

-The Financial Express There are several facets to India’s weak pulse economy. Nevertheless, it is a glorious moment for the country as pulse production is expected around 22 million tonnes in FY17 surpassing all previous records. According to the initial estimates of the agriculture ministry, kharif production will reach 8.2 million tonnes against 5.4 million tonnes recorded in the last fiscal. This would be possible due to higher allocation of land to...

-The Hindu Business Line About 3.15 crore farmers have been insured this kharif season against 3.08 crore last year, claims Agriculture Ministry New Delhi: The Centre appears to have scored some points on the success of the recently-launched Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana — the flagship insurance scheme for farmers. Going by the latest estimates of coverage and the sum insured it has seen a marginal increase vis-a-vis last year. “We are still compiling...