-The Times of India Promotion of organized retail and contract farming to improve farm production and modernize the agriculture supply chain as well as direct marketing initiatives are among the highlights of the report on consumer affairs prepared by a group of chief ministers chaired by Gujarat CM Narendra Modi.  In a report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March, the committee headed by Modi prioritized reducing farm gate to retail...

Large farm lobbies are backing the government's decision to allow foreign supermarkets to set up shop in the country, saying it will shorten the supply chain and get growers a larger share of the final selling price.  Most farmers, however, want the government to go a step further and make it mandatory for retailers to buy 75% of their produce directly from farmers, bypassing the restrictive 'mandi' auction system.  "Traders and middlemen...

-PTI   Studies suggest that MGNREGA has triggered shortage of labour for agricultural operations like sowing and harvesting in the key agri states and has also pushed up general wage level, Parliament was informed today.   These were the findings of state-level studies conducted by Agro Economic Research Centres under the Ministry of Agriculture, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. The studies were conducted in Karnataka,...

-PTI   Food Minister K V Thomas today said the draft Food Security Bill is expected to go to Cabinet by December 10 to pave the way for its introduction in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. "We have asked the government departments to send their comments on the draft Food Security Bill by December 1. After this, it is expected to go to the Union Cabinet by December 10," Thomas, whose...

-PTI A senior woman journalist was on Friday arrested for her alleged role in the sensational killing of crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey in June, police said. " Jigna Vora, deputy bureau chief of English daily Asian Age, has been arrested today as she played a role in the conspiracy hatched to murder J Dey," joint police commissioner (crime) Himanshu Roy said. Vora, who was questioned by the crime branch in connection with the...