-The Financial Express At today’s prices, imports cost less than Indian grain Imagine the irony. India has 34 million tonnes of wheat stocks with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) already and another 3-4 million will get added to this by July 1, but the country is still importing wheat, albeit in very small quantities. By July 1, FCI’s wheat and rice stocks will cross 60 million tonnes as compared to the...

-The Financial Express Smart irrigation management steps, including harnessing social sector schemes for irrigation works, did the trick The spate of recent farmer suicides has once again drawn the country’s attention to the deepening agrarian crisis. Media is abuzz with opinions and expert advice on how to provide succour to the farming community. Oft-repeated among these is the demand to increase public investment in irrigation. However, we need to remember that, since 1990, public...

-PTI AHMEDABAD: A prominent Agriculture analyst has proposed setting up of income commission at national and state levels for farmers, which will guarantee them specific monthly income against the backdrop of agrarian crisis. "An income commission should be formed for farmers, under which they would be entitled to get a minimum monthly income on the basis of their production and the area under cultivation," said Devinder Sharma. He was speaking to reporters on...

-Livemint.com WTO director general holds meetings with envoys from 7 major industrialized and developing countries Geneva: India has conveyed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) director general that commitments to reduce trade-distorting farm subsidies must be discussed before pursuing new ideas for reducing import tariffs on Agriculture and industrial products for concluding the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) trade negotiations by year-end. Over the last 10 days, WTO director general Roberto Azevêdo has...

-The Week Vagaries of the weather are not the only reason for Marathwada's agrarian crisis Three widows, two daughters and an overwhelming sense of grief occupy the house of the Palwes in Kekat Jalgaon in Paithan, Aurangabad. The house lost all its men there were three in the past three years. The Palwe widows, Yashoda, Chandrabhaga and Lakshmibai, and Yashoda's two daughters, Suman, 8, and Sarita, 6, live in a hut without...