My digitalfc.com

Following more than two years of stability, agricultural commodity prices began to strengthen in the first quarter as a result of reduced plantings of key crops in the US (notably maize and soybean) and unfavourable weather in South America (soybeans). The World Bank’s Agriculture Price Index gained 4 per cent (q/q), the first significant increase since mid-2016. Food commodities rose 4.3 per cent, reflecting gains in all three grains (maize, rice, and wheat) as well as in soybeans, although some edible oil prices (such as palm and rapeseed oil) experienced significant declines.

The Indian Express

A support scheme for farmers in Telangana has earned the appreciation of outgoing Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, who spoke about it during an Idea Exchange interaction with The Indian Express journalists and then wrote in The Financial Express that it can be the template for social and agricultural policy. Called Rythu Bandhu, the scheme involved cheque payments to farmers based on their landholdings.

Telangana Today

Irrigation facilities being extended even to the upland area with the construction of major projects has enhanced the value of agriculture land substantially in almost all the districts of the State.

The Pioneer

In a move to better planning in infrastructural and road projects to ensure safety and security aspects, the Central Government has decided to include police forces in policy decisions pertaining to town planning, road engineering and policy making. The Centre has also directed the States to positively involve police forces while framing policy and town planning. The Centre stated the policy makers’ needs to “re-orient themselves as all the policy needs to be looked from safety/security aspects”.

The New Indian Express

In an apparent admission that measures taken to deal with farm residue burning aren’t yielding desired results, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has asked the NITI Aayog to devise mechanism to deploy the resources available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for remedial actions.

Mint

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hopeful that the centre’s decision to hike the minimum support prices (MSP) of 14 kharif crops will give it the much-needed impetus in rural Gujarat, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The party, which had faced a jolt in the 2017 Gujarat elections, is working out various strategies to retain all 26 Lok Sabha seats it had won in 2014.

Business Standard

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh congratulated scientists and officials of the of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) along with farmers from across India on ICAR’s 90th Foundation day and award ceremony function in New Delhi today. Singh said the efforts of the ICAR have not only helped India transform from an importing nation to an exporting nation but also provided self-sufficiency and nutritional security in foodgrains. Due to the efforts of our skilled scientists and the hard work of the farmers, the country today has a buffer stock in foodgrain.

Financial Express

While the Goods and services tax was to lower the tax incidence on agriculture commodities — most unprocessed food is exempt from GST — it hasn’t. This is because many states have hiked mandi fees/assorted other imposts and approved sharp increases in the commissions payable to arhatiyas (market intermediaries), inflating food prices to the consumers. These local levies,which vary from state to state, also impede movement of agriculture produce across state borders, jacking up costs further.