-PTI NEW DELHI: To protect BPL families from price shocks due to supply constraints, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is likely to consider tomorrow a proposal to relaunch a scheme to supply imported pulses at a highly subsidised rate for next six months. The CCEA may also take up a proposal to extend a scheme for distribution of imported edible oils at subsided rate to BPL families for one more year...

-PTI India's foodgrains production is projected to decline by 10 per cent in the kharif season of this year at 117.18 million tonnes due to deficient monsoon and drought in some states. However, the government expects to make up for the decline in output during the Rabi season (winter sown crop). Foodgrain output stood at 129.94 million tonnes (MT)in last year's Kharif season. The production of rice - a major Kharif crop -...

-The Business Standard Despite a marked improvement in the southwest monsoon, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said production of coarse cereals, pulses, oilseeds and rice, to some extent, would be less than last year. For sugar, the cane area is more. But, Pawar said, some drop in production can be expected as farmers in Karnataka and Maharashtra have diverted a sizeable portion of standing crop towards fodder. Announcing the second relief package...

-The Hindu Centre mulling alternative crops The Union Government is looking at the possibility of replacing rice crop in Punjab and Haryana with alternative crops such as pulses, fodder and oilseeds that help in nitrogen fixation. The water-intensive rice cultivation over the years has become unsustainable in these two States and the water table has fallen to precarious levels. Giving this information to members of Parliament’s Consultative Committee for his Ministry, Agriculture Minister...

-The Business Standard Cautious optimism about the revival of the monsoon  A progressive improvement in the monsoon, after a dismal June that saw rainfall deficient by over 30 per cent, has eased some worries over kharif crop production. Since then the rainfall deficit has been halved to 15 per cent, dispelling fears of a situation as bad as in 2009, when severe drought lowered foodgrain production by seven per cent. In addition,...