-The Times of India New Delhi: Aiming to motivate farmers to grow more pulses, the government on Wednesday hiked the minimum support price (MSP) of arhar, urad and moong by up to Rs 425 per quintal for the kharif season starting September. It also announced bonus on oilseeds while making a modest increase of Rs 60 in paddy MSP to Rs 1,470 per quintal. Both agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh and consumer...
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Farmers unhappy over ‘meagre’ hike in paddy MSP -KV Kurmanath
-The Hindu Business Line Citing Swaminathan panel formula, farmers ‘reject’ MSP Hyderabad: Farmers associations and agri-economists are angry over the “meagre” hike in the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy, pulses and other crops. The government on Wednesday announced a hike in the MSP of Rs. 60 a quintal for paddy and Rs. 425 for pulses, far below the farmers’ expectations. Swaminathan panel formula The hike in the MSP falls well short of the...
More »Cotton-growers asked to shift to paddy -Vikas Vasudeva
-The Hindu After the extensive crop damage caused by the whitefly pest attack last year, cotton farmers in Haryana and Punjab have brought down the area under cotton this season. They are likely to shift to paddy and pulses. In Haryana, farmers have planted cotton on 4.76 lakh hectares so far, against nearly 5 lakh hectares during the same period last year. In Punjab, the area under cotton is 2.57 lakh hectares,...
More »Poor rainfall behind costly pulses: Paswan
-PTI Lucknow: Seeking to deflect Opposition attack over high prices of pulses, Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Sunday attributed it to poor rainfall and reduced imports during the last two years. “Several factors have led to the rise in price of pulses. Rainfall was low during the last two years, causing damage to crops. Besides, import was less,” he said at a press conference here. Paswan said last year, pulse production...
More »INDIA FOCUS: Drought and drinking water shortage. More than one-third of India is affected. Click here for info and links.
Situation alarming: More than one-third population hit by drought The country is facing severe drought for the second consecutive year. Conservative estimates from official sources show that over a quarter of rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity. Although both India Meteorological Department and Skymet have predicted a more than normal rainfall during June-September, 2016, the water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country has declined from 22 percent...
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