-The Business Standard A delayed monsoon has forced farmers in Western UP to use alternative sources of irrigation, incurring 25-30% extra costs Saharanpur/Muzaffarnagar (UP): If the latest inflation reading at eight per cent, largely fuelled by near double-digit food inflation, has left us worried, get ready to pay even more for food in coming months. Though the monsoon deficit has reduced to only 17 per cent, the rise in input cost...

-The Deccan Herald The poverty line continues to be a conundrum. The fixing of the poverty line at Rs 47 for urban areas and Rs. 32 in rural areas per capita per day by the latest Rangarajan committee report, based on a person or family's spending per day (called ‘consumption expenditure') has again drawn vociferous criticism. All these years, this all important line has not been fixed in a rational manner, rendering...

-Deccan Chronicle New Delhi: With a drought-like situation looming large and food prices remaining high, the Union government on Thursday announced various agri-progra-mmes with an outlay of about Rs 7,500 crore to improve irrigation, soil health, research activities besides promising steps to revamp mandis.   Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said that the Centre will provide cheaper foodgrains through ration shops even if there is marginal decline in farm production due to inadequate...

-The Hindu     The government believes that the expectation of a poor monsoon and consequent fall in harvests has encouraged traders and middlemen to hoard food staples such as onion and potato. For a government that rode to power on the back of widespread dissatisfaction among people over runaway prices, especially of food commodities, the rising cost of onion and potato are posing a major challenge now. Though there is no reason to...

-The Hindu Business Line     Facing criticism for rising prices, the Modi Government has blamed public expenditure on schemes such as MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) for fuelling food inflation. Curiously, the BJP wants the job scheme to continue, with the focus mainly on agriculture. According to the agenda note circulated for Friday's Conference of State Food Ministers with the Centre, food inflation is caused by both demand and supply...