-IANS With the common man crying out over the alarming hike in prices of pulses, the government on Sunday also imposed stock limits on pulses sourced from imports, those held by exporters, those to be used by licensed food processors and those with large departmental retailers. In its earlier order extending the imposition of stock limits on pulses, edible oils and edible oil seeds, for one year up to September 30, 2016,...

-DNA State policies favouring certain food crops have rendered pulses forbiddingly expensive and the common man is feeling the pinch The huge spurt in dal prices, touching Rs180 per kilogram and even Rs200 in some cities, has come as a dampener to the festive season, and raised questions about the policies of the government. For some years now, India has been resorting to huge imports of pulses to meet domestic demand...

-The Hindu Government sources told The Hindu that at PDS packaging centres, new unbranded bags were being replaced with used ones. Jute bags meant for packaging of foodgrains under the Public Distribution System (PDS) allegedly provided their manufacturers — in league with some officials of procuring State government agencies, quality insurance inspectors and middlemen — an opportunity to siphon off thousands of crores in government revenue. So serious is the scam that the...

-Down to Earth Reasons behind the trend include high inventory levels, lower oil prices and renewed strength of the US dollar The Food Outlook report released on Thursday states that agricultural commodities are going through a period of lower prices and less volatility. After dramatic price rise from 2007 till early 2011, cereal and vegetable oil prices are now steady as well as on the decline, the biannual publication of the Food...

-The Times of India There is more to this year's rainfall deficit than meets the eye. After the monsoon was officially declared over on September 30, 17 of the country's 36 weather subdivisions had received deficient or scanty rainfall. That's about 39% of the country's area, home to over 66 crore people, nearly half the country's population. Deficient is when rains are below the average by 20% or more while scanty...