Farmers in drought hit districts in this unusually heavy rains monsoon season will get a diesel subsidy of Rs 500 per hectare, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar announced here on Friday at the start of the National Conference on Rabi Campaign, even as the Centre awaits bumper crop production for most key Kharif crops including paddy, pulses, coarse cereals and sugarcane. Oilseeds are the only crop where acreage is lower than...

Asks the regulator to wait till end of festive season to prevent price speculation. The ministry of food and pubic distribution system has proposed to the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) to extend the ban on trading of sugar futures till the festive season is over. Officials said recommendations have been sent to the regulator to prevent any scope of speculation in the sugar prices at a time when prices of all commodities...

An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to revise the issue price of levy sugar for the public distribution system (PDS). The group is going to meet on Thursday with a three-point agenda for discussion. The government had recently increased the price of levy sugar for mills, which is meant for PDS, to an average of Rs 17.57 per kg for the 2009-10 crop...

Maharashtra’s sugarcane farmers who reaped a bonanza in 2009-10 due to surging sugar prices may have to settle for a 25-30% loss of income in the upcoming sugar year October 2010-September 2011. Farmers are expecting to be paid at least the Central government-fixed fair remunerative price. But with an estimated 22% jump likely in cane production, it may well become a buyer’s market with mills calling the shots. “I expect...

The parliamentary panel on food and agriculture has recommended against sugar decontrol, claiming the move will go against the interest of farmers as well as consumers. The views of this panel, expressed in a report tabled in the Parliament yesterday, are not binding. “The committee is of the opinion that if the entire control on manufacturing and distribution of sugar is removed, the PDS scheme will be adversely affected, as sugar...