-The Business Standard Do not roll back crucial food procurement reform Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, in an interview to this newspaper, has said that his ministry has not come to any "firm conclusion" on his directive to states about procurement. The Centre had told states to stop offering a bonus on top of the Centre's minimum support prices (MSPs) for wheat and rice, and to limit their procurement to match the...

-The Financial Express The Narendra Modi government's decision to disallow field trials of 15 varieties of genetically modified (GM) crops came on top of several state governments virtually thwarting such trials of 45 GM crop varieties approved by the regulator during the previous UPA regime. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) gave approval for 45 GM crop trials ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. However, states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha,...

-Down to Earth Civil society organisations claim private companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola are funding agencies partnering Indian health ministry The two-day South Asia conference on nutrition, currently on in Delhi, began on a controversial note on Wednesday. Some of the public health experts attending the conference under the aegis of Alliance Against Conflict of Interest (AACI) objected to the Indian health ministry hosting the event in collaboration with agencies funded...

-The Telegraph Tura: The Meghalaya government is working out modalities to declare horticulture and agriculture yields as "organic certified". Farmers are being encouraged in organic production and the government is assisting in the certification process. Director of the horticulture department Daniel Ingty told The Telegraph, "Nearly 90 per cent farms in Meghalaya are organic by tradition. However, these are yet to be certified. The government has embarked an ambitious programme on mission organic...

-Deccan Herald The Green Revolution has changed life in Indian villages, but the main beneficiaries were the landlords. Daily labourers remain poor and marginalised. The limits of using ever more fertiliser and pesticides are becoming apparent. Many farmers are confused because extension services want them to reconsider practices they were told to abandon not that long ago. A member of the Santal tribe, an Adivasi community, assesses things from the village perspective. Since independence...