-Business Standard India exports onion largely to Saudi Arabia, Colombo and some other far-east countries with an estimated annual volume of 1.5 million tonnes Onion prices have started firming up, in the wake of the government’s move to abolish minimum export price (MEP) on the vegetable. While most markets in Maharashtra remained closed on account of Christmas and other festivals, prices of onion in Delhi markets moved up by Rs 100 to Rs...

-Down to Earth Black rice is drought resistant and has rich medicinal properties. Manipur and Assam are reviving this variety Not very long ago, black rice (Oryza sativa) was forbidden in China. Not because it looked poisonous for its black colour, but because it had nutritional values, and found a place only on an emperor’s menu. For centuries, the nutritional values of this wild rice eluded common people. It is only now...

-The Hindu Business Line A CAG report has laid bare the fact that rice millers have for decades reaped undue gains even as they failed to replenish the national food stock Much like rice spilling out of a tear in the sack, the country’s food procurement system has been leaking crores of rupees every year and impoverishing the government. Last week, in a report presented to Parliament the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG)...

-The Hindu Business Line Rice millers are making a killing due to policy gaps and old rates, says report The government is losing thousands of crores while rice mill owners are raking in the moolah, said the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. The report said mill owners are cashing in on lacunae in the government’s policy on the sale of paddy and rice by-products —...

-The Indian Express Uttar Pradesh farmers have taken well to direct benefit transfers, though there are doubts if it can be extended to fertilisers. Akhilesh Yadav’s government in Uttar Pradesh is turning out to be a pacesetter in implementation of direct benefit transfers (DBT) to farmers. Farmers in UP got Rs 28.60 per Quintal from the state government for the sugarcane they supplied to mills during the 2014-15 crushing season. The payments, totalling...