-Deccan Herald Buoyed by the incentives announced by the government, farmers appear to have taken up cultivation of pulses in a big way this year. New Delhi: According to the data released by the Agriculture Ministry, pulses acreage has increased 39% as compared to the same period last year. Sowing of coarse cereals and oil seeds has also increased but acreage of sugar cane and cotton has declined. The area under pulses cultivation was...

-Business Standard The showers are expected to return over central and northern parts of India in the next few days, boosting kharif sowing which has already touched 70 million hectares New Delhi: India’s southwest monsoon showed some signs of abating and the rains during the week ended July 20 was seven per cent less than normal, but there was no break in sowing as farmers rushed to take advantage of the available...

-Frontline The inability to resolve pressing problems with respect to the production, distribution and availability of food is one of the important failures of the entire economic reform process. IN the fateful month of July 1991, when the devaluation of the Indian rupee presaged the introduction of a whole series of liberalising economic reforms, agriculture was very far from the minds of most policymakers and commentators. The immediate focus was on...

-The Indian Express Price and technology-led incentives alone will not help boost pulses and oilseeds production in the country. Indian agriculture is governed by an impossible trinity or “trilemma” that requires it to meet three simultaneous objectives — global competitiveness, social inclusiveness and environmental sustainability — each often at odds with the other two. Official policy has largely tilted towards supporting the first two goals, with token, if not grudging, acknowledgement of...

-Business Standard The latest bout of retail inflation was caused by vegetables, but prices of these items are not as worrisome as those of pulses The latest bout of Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation was caused by vegetables, but prices of these items are not as worrisome as those of pulses, which saw a slight moderation in June. Besides, inflation in cereals has been rising modestly, but if not checked this could...