India’s urea import prices fall 12% as global fertilizer market tightness eases
India, one of the world’s biggest urea importers, received offers for the soil nutrient that were 12% below the June purchase price, signaling that the war-driven tightness in the global fertilizer market is easing. State-run producer Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd., which also imports urea on behalf of the government, received offers for about 3.1 […]
El Nino poses threat to range of agricultural commodities, say analysts
El Nino’s onset last month poses a threat to a range of agricultural commodities, from rice and wheat to cocoa, palm oil, sugar and robusta coffee, across the world. However, the threat will vary from crop to crop rather than impact crops uniformly, analysts have said. “Rice stands out as the clearest channel of concern, […]
India’s ethanol supplies cross 800-crore-litre mark, grain-based share rises to 76% in July: AIDA
India’s cumulative ethanol supplies have crossed the 800-crore-litre mark during Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-26, with grain-based feedstocks accounting for around 76 per cent of monthly supplies in July, according to data compiled by the All India Distillers’ Association (AIDA). A total of 93 crore litres of ethanol was supplied in July, taking cumulative supplies […]
3% fruit and vegetables samples tested by FSSAI had pesticide residues above permitted limits during 2023-26
The government has said that pesticide residues above the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) fixed by the FSSAI were detected in 3.1 per cent samples of fruits and vegetables in the last three years. In a reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, said a total of […]
The role of AI in making complex agricultural technologies easier to discover, compare and evaluate
Agriculture has always been driven by choices. Every season, farmers have to decide what to grow, when to sow, how much to irrigate, when to apply fertilisers, and in the end, how and where to move their produce to market. In the past, these kinds of decisions mostly came from experience plus local knowledge. Even […]
Can agricultural waste become India’s next commodity?
Every year, India generates 350 million tonne of agricultural waste – from paddy straw and sugarcane bagasse to coconut husks, banana stems, rice husk, cotton stalks and arecanut waste. Much of it is burnt, dumped or left to decompose, contributing to air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and resource loss. Yet these same materials are increasingly […]
India’s ISMA, coop sugar mills seek incentives to offset early crushing losses
Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) and National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF) have offered their support to the government to begin crushing operation 10-15 days earlier in October so that supply in domestic market improves during festival season. This comes at a time when the country faces low sugar availability, with the […]
India’s rice procurement up 5% in 2025-26, as Govt buys 18% higher from rabi crop
India has achieved 99 per cent of its rice procurement target of 575.52 lakh tonnes (lt) so far. It is 5 per cent higher than the year-ago level. As the new marketing season begins from October 1, the government may have to fast-dispose of its stocks before the next purchase for the 2026-27 marketing season […]
ICAR develops India’s first fully annotated T2T genome of pigeonpea variety Asha
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on Tuesday announced that it has developed India’s first fully annotated telomere-to-telomere (T2T) reference genome of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.) variety ‘Asha’. The newly developed T2T genome sequence comprises 752.65 million base pairs, assembled into 92 contigs, providing a complete representation of all 11 chromosomes of pigeonpea. The genome […]
Monsoon set to head north, east under El Nino shadow
The monsoon has reached the halfway mark after a season of striking contrasts, with a disastrous June being followed by a reasonably productive July, traditionally the wettest month. The uneven performance has reflected the constant tug-of-war between the monsoon and a steadily strengthening El Niño. The second half of the season could tell a different […]