Finally, they have bitten the bullet on fertiliser subsidy. For the past three years, the Union government has agonised on the issue of mounting expenditure on this account and has not had the courage to cut the subsidy. While Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced his intent to introduce a nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) in his last Budget Speech, he has finally shown courage to do so on the eve of this...

The agriculture ministry’s revised farm output projections for this year, indicating just about a 7.5 per cent downturn in foodgrain production despite the worst drought in recent years, lend themselves to some significant inferences. For one, the performance of the crops has turned out to be far better than what was feared. The earlier projections, released in November last, had put the likely crop loss at over 21 million tonnes,...

Galloping food prices have shattered family budgets across the country, with latest inflation data showing that prices rose at nearly 18% in the week ending February 6. Many essentials of Indian kitchens are almost beyond reach; sugar is up by nearly 60%, pulses by 46% and potatoes by 53% over a year. In a country already suffering from chronic malnutrition and low incomes, this trend is a killer. President Pratibha...

Surging food inflation, decline in agriculture growth rate and the impending food security bill are expected to be at the centre of the coming Union budget. With a bumper wheat Harvest expected this rabi, there are projections of a turnaround in the farm sector from the present growth rate of 0.2 per cent. Food prices, which grew at an unprecedented rate of nearly 20 per cent in January, are expected...

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday urged agricultural scientists to double their efforts to remove all misgivings on genetically modified (GM) crops from the minds of policy makers and the public. Inaugurating a two-day conference of Vice Chancellors of agricultural universities and meeting of Directors of Indian Council of Agriculture Research here, he said, “The recent decision on Bt. brinjal should not be seen as a setback to our...