Agriculture Economy

The patent registration was published in the Plant Variety Journal, February 2026 issue, conferring statutory ownership, legal rights upon the farming community of Nagaur district, Rajasthan

WTO reforms, agriculture-related matters, dispute settlement and the e-commerce moratorium are expected to be discussed by trade ministers of 166 countries during the four-day ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation in Yaounde, Cameroon, an official said. Fisheries subsidies, China-led Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) agreement, e-commerce work programme and moratorium, development and S&DT (special and differential treatment), and level playing field issues are also among the topics that may figure during the 14th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) will take place from March 26 to 29, 2026, in Yaounde, Cameroon. The ministerial conference is the highest decision-making body of the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO). It meets every two years. The Indian team will be led by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, the official said. The meeting is important as global trade ..

Maharashtra's economy is expected to grow at 7.9 per cent in 2025-26 while the per capita income is projected to reach Rs 3.47 lakh, as per the Economic Survey tabled in the state legislature on Thursday ahead of the Budget. The agriculture and allied sector is expected to grow by 3.4 per cent in the present financial year. Industry is expected to grow by 5.7 per cent and the services sector by 9 per cent during this period, the survey said, adding that the services sector continues to drive the state's economy. According to the budget estimates for 2025-26, the state's revenue receipts are expected to be Rs 5,60,964 crore, including Rs 4,77,400 crore tax revenue and Rs 33,052 crore non-tax revenue. The state has maintained its fiscal deficit within 3 per cent of GSDP, and it is estimated at 2.7 per cent in 2025-26. Maharashtra continues to remain one of the strongest and most dynamic economies in the country, driven by balanced growth in agriculture, industry and services, large .

With rice stocks far above buffer norms, India must shift from open-ended MSP procurement to diversified, sustainable agriculture without hurting farmer incomes

Ramesh Chand argued that India already looks like a "world power" in rice but added that ambition has to be filtered through desirability and consequences

Shivraj Singh Chouhan says it would give them the freedom to choose which fertilisers to buy and in what quantities

Experts at BS Manthan say India can become a global food hub, but must fix soil health, reform fertiliser subsidies and ensure farm growth is more balanced across crops and states

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan calls for a national debate on direct benefit transfer in fertilisers to curb diversion and ensure subsidies reach farmers

Despite criticism over gaps in farm support, Budget FY27 sharply raises allocations for fisheries, animal husbandry and cooperation, underlining the growing role of allied sectors

Pilot trials using Agri Stack and farmer IDs to rationalise urea use have shown promise, but issues of bringing urea under the Nutrient Based Subsidy and rationalising retail prices remain

Two-thirds of India's imports of tree nuts (such as almonds and pistachios) came from the US alone

Capped DDGS imports under the India-US trade deal offer near-term relief to distillers, but larger quotas could pressure oilseed prices, farm incomes and domestic margins

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said India has set a clear target of achieving self-reliance in the production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, asserting that imports in these sectors would no longer be necessary. Addressing a review meeting with officials at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) here, Chouhan said the focus was on identifying high-demand crops and ensuring that their domestic production is profitable for farmers. Outlining the government's approach, the minister said, "Our target is simple. We will not import fruits, flowers, and vegetables. We have to become self-reliant in these areas." The Union Minister for Rural Development, Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare added that India had already made significant progress, calling current production levels "historic". Referring to crops previously dependent on imports, Chouhan said, "We were importing avocados; now we have started producing them." He stressed the need to extend th

The edible oil and soybean processing industry has cautiously welcomed the India-US interim bilateral trade agreement announced on Saturday, but is awaiting crucial details on tariff cuts, quota mechanisms and quality specifications. Under the pact, while the US will reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from the present 50 per cent, India will eliminate or cut down import duties on all US industrial goods and a wide range of American food and agricultural products, including soybean oil, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruits, wine and spirits. IMPORT DEPENDENCE DRIVES CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM --------------------------------------------------------- The Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) has welcomed the move, particularly given India's heavy dependence on soybean oil imports. During the 2024-25 edible oil year (November-October), the country imported a record 5.47 million tonnes of soybean oil,

The agreement comes after months of tensions between US and India that began to ease in recent weeks, and follows a big trade agreement signed by India with the European Union last month

Even as both PM Modi and Trump hailed the agreement, details on several key issues, including agriculture, India's purchase of Russian oil and the services sector, remain unclear

Despite new policy support and AI-led productivity tools, India's agriculture still faces structural challenges as its GVA share in GDP continues to fluctuate

Budget 2026-27 strengthens agriculture, MSMEs and rural infrastructure, positioning villages, Tier-II and Tier-III towns at the heart of India's Viksit Bharat vision

Budget 2026 places special emphasis on plantation crops, fisheries and animal husbandry, proposing targeted schemes to boost farmer incomes, value addition and women-led rural enterprises

On agriculture, the survey noted the advancements in Indian agriculture pointed to the challenges that impact productivity and incomes that still need to be fully addressed