-The Indian Express After cotton last year, the BJP state government faces a fresh challenge ahead of late-2017 elections. Rajkot: GROUNDNUT FARMERS last week forced a suspension of auctions at the agriculture produce market committee (APMC) mandi in Amreli to protest against tumbling prices of Gujarat’s second biggest cash crop after cotton. The new groundnut-in-shell crop is fetching around Rs 3,500 per quintal, well below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs...

-The Hindu Business Line The electronic-National Agriculture Market is a sound idea but implementation is at a nascent stage Farmers in Telangana staged a protest last Monday, demanding discontinuation of the electronic-national agriculture market (e-NAM) platform and restoration of the previous platform provided by NCDEX e-Markets. It followed the failure of the software to accommodate the heavy volumes of the peak season arrivals, beginning with maize and soyabean. The Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC)...

-Business Standard Mumbai: Maharashtra will have to wait more for the proposed law to regulate prices of pulses. The Centre has sent back the state's draft Bill, questioning the very need of such a law when the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 already provides stringent provisions to curb hoarding and control prices. The Centre has also questioned why the provision for imprisonment, in case of violation, is lower than the Essential Commodities...

-Livemint.com Spoilage and pilferage are not something the country can afford given its low ranking in the hunger index The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently approved a proposal to restructure around Rs30,000 crore of food credit given to Punjab state agencies, allowing for the conversion of cash credit into a 20-year loan at a lower interest rate. The central bank also sanctioned a cash credit limit of Rs26,000 crore for this...

-PTI This rule will apply to essential commodities that are sold both in loose and packaged form in retail markets To check inflation, the government has amended the metrology rules which would allow it to fix retail prices of essential commodities like pulses and sugar in extraordinary situations. Under the present system, retail prices are fixed by market forces, leaving very little room for the government to check undue spike in prices. “We have...