-The Hindu ‘Governments must protect interest of producer, consumer’ The controversy regarding India’s permission to allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail and growing “land grab” in Africa by multinational corporations are being closely watched globally by agriculture experts, researchers and donors. At a workshop here on ‘Supporting Policy Research to Inform Agricultural Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia’ — which a few journalists from both regions were invited to attend —...

-Tehelka While Delhi government says it will eliminate leakages in the supply chain of food distribution, activists say it will take away the rights of the poor who require food entitlements rather than cash When Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit fumbled a bit in front of 5,000 people while delivering her speech at the launch of Annshree Yojna, the audience let out a collective gasp and began murmuring loudly. Dikshit had...

-The Economic Times The government should liquidate wheat stocks through exports and sales in the open market and share the proceeds with farmers to raise their income levels, a government panel suggested. In its latest report to the agriculture ministry, the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), which recommends a minimum support price (MSP) for agriculture crops, is said to have maintained that there is no reason to lift the...

-PTI Pitching for direct cash transfer of food subsidy, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Tuesday assured this would not result in dismantling of current system of procuring grains at minimum support price (MSP) and distribution through PDS. "...about the cash transfer (of subsidy), the accusation is that you want to dismantle the PDS. This is completely wrong because there is no question of dismantling the minimum support prices," Ahluwalia...

-The Economic Times The fear of drought in India has abated with late precipitation of the monsoon in September this year. However, the country continues to suffer from a drought of formalised tabulated data of agro items on a real-time or monthly basis, though many estimates continue to fatigue the print and electronic media.  Red or green prices flashing on computer screens are taken for 'granted', but the discovery of future or...