India is one of the largest producers of wheat but sells little abroad. Export restrictions in Russia and surging prices across major sellers is set to make it the 9th largest shipper.
In 2021, Pakistan had allowed India to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan by using its land route after the humanitarian situation worsened following the Taliban offensive.
Paddy, wheat farmers from Lakhimpur Kheri noted they are often forced to sell their produce to commission agents as government officials cite various excuses to avoid buying their produce.
India's bakery market is expected to grow 8.5% to reach more than $12 billion by 2026. But evidence is also building up against refined foods as producing more harm than good.
By 2 June, a total of 411.12 LMT of wheat had been procured at MSP across India, an all-time high. The last rabi procurement season culminated with a purchase of 389.92 LMT wheat.
National agricultural commodity export grew by nearly 25% over $15.9 billion in 2019-20. This was driven by rice & wheat exports that touched record high of almost 20 MT in 2020-21.
As of 9 May, Punjab has procured 128.66 LMT of wheat while Haryana has so far secured 80.76 LMT. The procurement season will last until 15 May in Punjab and 25 May in Haryana.
Despite Covid risk, farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan not only harvested their crops but also sold them in mandis. Bihar and UP must learn the lesson.
Punjab implements direct transfer of payments for farmers on day one of rabi procurement season. Farmers worry it will hurt working relationship with agents, make getting loans harder.
Govt says digital payments also uplift under-served communities by providing them financial footprint that can be used to assess credit worthiness in absence of traditional documents.
As Narendra Modi becomes India’s second-longest consecutively serving Prime Minister, we look at how he compares with Indira Gandhi across four key dimensions.
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