Policymakers have repeatedly said that commodity futures help farmers hedge their risks. But data from Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the regulator for the business worth Rs 106 lakh crore during April-October, paints a different picture. The share of agricultural trade is just a tad over 10% and within this, food products such as soya oil and chana accounted for less than 7% of the total value. Of course, the government itself...
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Punjab Govt. announces subsidy for potato growers
-PTI The Punjab Government on Sunday announced freight subsidy for transportation of potato crop to domestic as well as export markets. Potato growers had on Saturday threatened to throw potatoes on the roads in Jalandhar on December 15 to protest the fall in the crop's price to as low as Rs.1 per kg and the “insensitive” attitude of the State government. Announcing a reprieve to potato growers across the State, Punjab Chief Minister...
More »Food prices remain steady during November, UN agency reports
-The United Nations Global food prices in November were virtually unchanged from October, and 10 per cent below their peak in February, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today. FAO’s Food Price Index level was 215 points last month – just two points, or one per cent, above its level in November 2010, according to a news release issued by the Rome-based agency. Cereal prices dropped by 3 points, or...
More »FDI in retail BJP's baby, we are trying to nurse it: Pranab
-The Times of India Taking a swipe at the BJP for not backing FDI in retail, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said the government was only trying to nurse the main opposition party's "baby" when it took the decision to allow FDI in retail. Replying to a debate in the Rajya Sabha on price rise, Mukherjee read from a 2004 interview of leader of opposition Arun Jaitley in which the senior...
More »Broken heartland
-The Business Standard Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee explained the government’s helplessness over inflation in the Rajya Sabha with great eloquence on Thursday. Much of what he said may have solid economic fundamentals, but the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government cannot claim helplessness forever — not when the signs of the cracks it is creating in India’s rural prosperity are becoming so obvious. If any one thing that has protected the Indian...
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