Harish Damodaran

We have, indeed, entered a regime of “permanent surpluses” in most crops — a reality our policymakers are unable to grasp, stuck as they are in the era of the Essential Commodities Act.

With India and China signing an agreement on Saturday to amend a protocol on phytosanitary requirements, which will allow India to export non-basmati rice to China, rice millers see the opening up of the Chinese market for Indian grain as a positive sign in the long run.

Behind the agitation, stagnant income and deteriorating terms of trade for agriculture

The result in the Kairana Lok Sabha seat bypoll, where ganna payment was the main issue, brought forth a crisis born of advances in plant breeding and boost in sugarcane production.

India’s pulses production increased by nearly half in the space of two years, from 16-17 million tonnes to 23-24 million tonnes this year

Farmers in the Green Revolution regions show less interest in seed technology that has produced record-breaking yields in China

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has developed WheatCam, a picture-based insurance (PBI) app that farmers can download on to their smartphones.

Arrears cross Rs 23,000 crore but farmers stick to cane as it is one of the most profitable crops to grow.

Kairana constituency has six sugar mills: four private (the Shamli factory of Sir Shadi Lal Enterprises, Rana Sugars’ factory in Unn, Bajaj Hindusthan’s in Thana Bhawan and Uttam Sugar’s in Shermau) and two cooperative (in Sarsawa and Nanauta).

From every tonne of cane crushed, mills produce about 107 kg of sugar and 46 kg of molasses. That, on a likely crushing of 300 mt this season, translates into 32.1 mt of sugar and 13.8 mt of molasses.

Govt has cleared assistance plan to help mills amid crisis caused by overproduction. Will Rs 5.50/quintal be effective when dues to growers have reached Rs 20,000 crore?

In August 2013, Siddaramaiah government launched a ‘Ksheera Bhagya’ scheme which provides a 150-ml glass of free milk daily to around 1.04 crore children: 65 lakh studying in government/government-aided schools and another 39 lakh in pre-school anganwadi centres.

Delayed premium subsidy payments and yield data submission by states result in low payouts to farmers.

The crop in a well-marked plot of this field is, then, harvested, threshed, winnowed and weighed. If the produce contains moisture, it has to be dried first before weighing.

The main problem for farmers today is not production or having sufficient crop to sell. Instead, it has to do with prices that they are getting for their produce.

This moderation in food inflation now being seen for consumers, though, is price deflation for farmers. And it is a generalised fall across agricultural commodities, a phenomenon that defies easy explanation.

The Narendra Modi government may find itself in a tricky situation over the issue of extending geographical indication (GI) certification for basmati paddy grown in Madhya Pradesh (MP).

When it comes to cattle, the dominant beliefs of current religious and political leaders are totally at variance with the realities of farming.

A unique solar-powered lift micro-irrigation project in Punjab shows the way for efficient delivery of canal water.