Business Standard – Online

The Centre on Monday said it set a record in wheat procurement at 43.32 million tonnes (mt) so far in the current 2021-22 rabi marketing season. In paddy procurement too, the government has procured a record 86.20 mt till July 4 of the 2020-21 kharif marketing season (October-September). The previous record in wheat procurement was 38.99 mt achieved in the 2020-21 season (April-March). Food Corporation Chairman and Managing Director Atish Chandra said Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir recorded their best wheat procurement while a record 4.91 million farmers benefitted this year against 4.33 million last year.

The New Indian Express – Online

Washermanpet welcomes within its fold a heritage garden of the likes you are not likely to have witnessed anywhere else in the country. Set in the century-old property that once housed the British-era Government Agriculture Engineering Workshop, the Horticulture Heritage Garden boasts of a 6,000-square-foot lawn that has over 100 native plants and trees painstakingly raised by the Horticulture Department. The heritage garden itself is spread across 3.8 acres. It also houses a hydroponics wing, raising a whole range of greens using nutrient solutions.But, that’s not all. The engineering workshop that was shut down in 2002 still hosts a number of tools and machines brought in to serve the needs of the British-ruled ...

The Economic Times – Online

Retail prices of pulses are showing a declining trend after the government’s interventions, Union Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said on Monday. The recent imposition of stock limits on wholesalers, retailers, millers and importers of pulses will further have a cooling effect on retail prices, he added. “Barring masoor dal, prices of all other pulses have declined continuously in the last 4-5 weeks both in retail and wholesale markets,” Pandey said in a virtual press briefing.

CNBC TV18 – Online

Will food inflation follow the steep hike seen in petroleum product prices? It stood at 5.26 percent in May as against 4.78 percent in April and 5.88 percent in May last year. Siraj Hussain, former agriculture secretary, while talking about steps taken by the government to ensure that the commodity prices do not run much higher, especially for the consumers, said that people can live with the petroleum inflation but not with food. Speaking in an interview with CNBC-TV18, he said, “The government is concerned about food inflation because people can live with the inflation in petroleum products but not with food.”

The New Indian Express – Online

The much-awaited event for the farming community – the Krishi Mela — which is organised by the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), may be cancelled this year too. Last year too, the fair was postponed as the pandemic was at its peak. The fair attracts lakhs of farmers and experts from across the world. Shekappa Patil, a farmer, said the Krishi Mela helps farmers in many ways as experts from various fields related to agriculture share their ideas and seeds and equipment are available for sale at competitive prices. Hoping that the mela will be held against the odds, he said, “It will be good if the government and the university authorities show ...

The New Indian Express – Online

Farmers from a few villages of Konaseema in East Godavari district have declared a crop holiday in protest against the failure of the authorities to desilt mud accumulated in the drains. With the clogging of drains, the drain water is entering agriculture fields and damaging the crops, they alleged. Paddy cultivation in nearly 800 acres will be affected if crop holiday comes into play. The farmers incurred losses during the previous Kharif and Rabi seasons after water entered their fields. Farmers in villages of Inapuram, Kothalanka, Somudevarapalem and neighbouring villages in Mummidivaram mandal have decided to take crop holiday. The Kharif season has begun in the district and the irrigation department officials have ...