-The Hindustan Times The government stocks a fifth of its grain out in the open, left to be washed by the monsoon. As the UPA’s most ambitious welfare programme — food security for poor Indians — is unrolled, more grain will be collected and allowed to rot unless warehouses are built to stock an additional 35 million tonnes beyond the 110 million tonnes of storage we already have, the Planning Commission...

The chattering classes of urban India are engaged in animated discussions about Didi, scams, policy paralysis , faltering reforms and declining growth. Meanwhile, the farming classes, who haven't seen much reform since the Green Revolution 50 years ago, continue to combine bits of modern technology with their ingenious capacity for 'jugaad' in transforming traditional agriculture. Here are a few examples. The tractor displaced the bullock in ploughing and other farm operations....

With its granaries brimming over, the government faces a crippling dilemma: The tab for releasing foodgrain to make way for new arrivals adds up to Rs 20,000-25,000 crore, an unviable addition to the subsidy bill. The government's bind was succinctly outlined by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee when he told a meeting called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday that vacating food silos will mean a hefty cost at a time...

-PTI Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that every single grain of wheat would be purchased from the farmers in the state under the wheat procurement process.  The farmers should maintain calm without getting misled by any wrong propaganda, the Chief Minister said adding that the remaining farmers will be registered within three days and the wheat would be purchased from them.  Chouhan said this while addressing the commissioners and...

-The Times of India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to discuss the foodgrain storage and crop situation with food minister K V Thomas and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday amid news of a bumper harvest this year and overflowing granaries.  The meeting, slated for Monday, was postponed, and is likely to discuss options before the government to offload the grains in the central pool that are expected to reach record...