Agriculture
Pulses, oilseeds output: Poor policy support to blame
THE deep anguish expressed by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan over massive imports of agricultural products and the discriminatory treatment meted out to farmers (Business Line, July 7) deserves to engage the attention of policy makers in New Delhi. The venerable s cientist does not see any logic for the country to be flooded with imports of pulses and edible oils. He has advocated protection to farmers growing pulses and oilseeds. In order to appreciate the domestic compulsions of having to import these essentia l food products, a brief recapitulation of recent history may be in order. India started to import edible oils sometime in the mid 1970s and pulses since the early 1980s. This was necessitated by the fact that domestic demand for these two essential comm odities of mass consumption was rising faster than the production increases.

Auction sale of FCI wheat unlikely
THE Government has decided to shelve for the time being the plan to auction five million tonnes of wheat from the Food Corporation of India's (FCI) stocks in Punjab and Haryana. This follows alleged `cartelisation' attempts by northern flour millers in o rder to bid at prices well below the Government's expectations.

Horticulture
Plea to develop biotech mangoes
THE Philippines and the United States have signed a $-7 million agreement covering agricultural biotechnology development programme to revolutionise local agricultural research and development, and spur a quantum leap in plant and animal genetics.

Plantations
Excess crop in Karnataka -- Tobacco Board faulted
THE farmers in Karnataka have planted tobacco far in excess of the authorised area and the Tobacco Board and the Union Ministry of Commerce have done precious little to prevent it, Dr. Y. Sivaji, President of the AP Virginia Tobacco Farmers' Association, has said.

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