-The Indian Express Government must give a level playing field by removing restrictions on markets and exports Last year, roughly at this time, the price of tur dal (split pigeon pea) in the retail market was hovering around Rs 180/kg. The prices of other pulses were not far behind. They were all spiralling due to back-to-back droughts during 2014-15 and 2015-16. Production of all pulses had plunged to 16.5 million metric tonnes...

-The Hindu Business line Farm output hit; water levels in reservoirs at their lowest; Kerala, Karnataka looking at cloud seeding Bengaluru/ Thiruvananthapuram: The near-normal monsoon in 2016 may have helped most parts of the country come out of two successive droughts and perhaps propel foodgrain output to a new high, but not in the South. The drought has extended its grip in the South, with the South-West monsoon falling significantly short and the...

-Livemint.com Major consumer goods players have caught on to the emergence of ragi as an alternative food, triggering production of the millet crop in India New Delhi: Just like the humble quinoa, which has risen to global prominence as a ‘super food’, ragi or finger millet was once a subsistence crop—a poor man’s staple. For the last four years or so, all that has changed. “Demand for ragi has come back as people are...

-The Financial Express The minimum that the govt can do is to remove all restrictions on a free market for pulses Last year, roughly at this time, the price of tur dal (pigeon pea) in the retail market was hovering around R180/kg. Prices of other pulses were not far behind. They were all spiraling up due to back-to-back droughts during 2014-15 and 2015-16. Production of all pulses had plunged to 16.5 million...

-IANS Shimla: Himachal Pradesh, whose economy largely banks on agriculture and horticulture, aims to develop bio villages by promoting organic farming. The state is also eyeing investment in cold chains. An additional 2,000 hectares will be brought under organic farming and there are plans to develop 200 bio-villages in the next fiscal, a government spokesperson told IANS. He said farmers in the bio-villages would use only bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides and discourage...