-Frontline.in The government ought to have specified its definition of cost of crop production in the Budget to prevent any confusion in the minds of people on minimum support prices. Speaking at the Krishi Unnati Mela 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly complained that confusion was being spread about the announcement on minimum support prices (MSPs) made in the Finance Minister’s 2018 Budget speech. The speech had assured farmers that they would,...

-The Hindu ‘Commercial release of the seed is a socio-political issue’ “The commercial release of genetically modified mustard wasn’t merely a scientific issue but a ‘socio-political one’ that required the understanding of a wide section of society,” K. VijayRaghavan, 64, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) said in an interview. He was formerly Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, that had funded the development of the seed. While the transgenic plant has been cleared for commercial cultivation...

-The Hindu Business Line Urge growers to stay away from illegal Bt3 seeds Hyderabad: With the kharif season fast approaching, the Telangana government and farmers’ union have launched independent campaigns to discourage people from illegal bio-tech cotton seeds or Roundup Ready Flex seeds. The third generation seed technology developed by Monsanto gives cotton plants protection against glyphosate, which is sprayed to kill the weed. Though the technology doesn’t have permissions in the country,...

-The Economic Times Chandigarh: The ongoing procurement of mustard at a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 4,000 per quintal in Haryana is hurtled by a lack in the number of collection centres. Farmers are selling the produce to traders at Rs 3,700-3,800 per quintal in the state as the logistic costs are too high to reach the collection centres in many districts in the state. Most of the farmers have sold...

-The New Indian Express JEYPORE (Odisha): The announcement of making a 56-year-old tribal woman of Patraput village in Koraput district a member of the State Planning Board has brought cheer for the widow as well as the locals. Villagers and elected representatives of Jeypore block are making a beeline for her thatched house to congratulate Kamala Pujari, who brought laurels to the State by preserving hundreds of local varieties of paddy...