Farmers in West Bengal whose land will be acquired will now get three cottahs of developed land for commercial purpose for every acre of land. This will be in addition to a compensation based on market rate. Even before the Central government came up with a fresh land acquisition Act and rehabilitation policy, the West Bengal government on Thursday announced its new rehabilitation package for the state’s farmers. Commerce and Industries...

Top economic advisor in the finance ministry on Wednesday blamed cartels among traders for the skyrocketing prices of onion. “There are forms of implicit cartels working among the traders that block the movement of new entry, the appearance of new players,” chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu said while explaining the reasons behind the onion price rise. The price of the vegetable, which is ruling at Rs 60 per kg, went up...

In recent years, the agricultural growth rate has tended to be lower than the population growth rate. This year, the former is nearing the target of 4%. But we still have a very large percentage of undernourished children, women and men. Poverty and destitution also remain stubborn. The Indian food security enigma rises from the mismatch between the grain mountains and the hungry millions. What are the prospects for ensuring...

On the National Conference on Oil Palm at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh (the largest producer in the country), Mr. M.C. Rao, palm oil farmer, Gajapati district, Orissa, stated, “Just like several Government agricultural departments, officials at the conference painted a false, bright, and positive picture about the prospects of the oil palm plantation for farmers taking up this cultivation.” “As usual the policy makers miserably failed to read the pulse of...

High cotton prices spun out enough problems for India’s $62 billion textiles industry, but weaved gains for growers and traders in 2010. Amid pulls and pressures from the conflicting interests, a ministers’ group under the guidance of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee kept reviewing the price and crop situation, with excessive winter rains playing spoilsport. The textiles industry pulled out all stops to lobby with the textiles, commerce and finance ministries seeking a...