Farmers arrive with blankets and mattresses for others at the site of a protest against farm laws at Ghaziabad, India on Jan. 29, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Danish Siddiqui)

Son of India government minister arrested, accused of killing farmers

Junior home minister's son was 'not co-operating' in probe

Lucknow | Reuters — Ashish Mishra, son of junior home minister Ajay Mishra Teni, has been arrested on accusations he ran over and killed four protesting farmers last week, a senior police official said. The farmers, killed on Oct. 3 in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, were part of India’s longest-running agricultural protest, opposing […] Read more

Farmers plant saplings in a rice field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India on July 5, 2019. (File photo: Reuters/Amit Dave)

India unveils new rice variety to reduce water use, labour

New Delhi | Reuters — India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched an array of new high-yielding crop varieties, including herbicide-tolerant rice that can be directly sown into the soil, cutting expenditure on water and farm workers. In India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, the conventional method of rice cultivation requires farmers to sow […] Read more

CBOT December 2021 oats (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

CBOT weekly outlook: Factors worth watching

Oats showing recent strength

MarketsFarm — Choppiness in Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soyoil, a potential increase in corn prices and an upcoming production report from Statistics Canada are factors on which grains analyst Terry Reilly suggests keeping an eye. Soyoil has been hit by early reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was going to recommend to the […] Read more

Green lentils. (Savany/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Pulse trade with India strong, but flawed

MarketsFarm — India remains as the largest international buyer of Canadian lentils, despite factors affecting trade between the two countries. While Western Canada deals with drought conditions which have likely lowered this year’s lentil crop, the Indian government’s restrictions on imports have threatened to hinder Canadian exports. “Despite tariffs and technical measures in place that […] Read more





(Cia.gov)

India’s federal police probe bosses of two fertilizer companies

Large-scale nutrient purchases often known to sway spot prices

Mumbai | Reuters — Indian authorities have opened an investigation into the heads of two leading fertilizer importing companies, alleging they secured commissions from overseas suppliers for inflating the prices of crop nutrient purchases. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s top crimefighting agency, said late Wednesday it was investigating U.S. Awasthi, managing director of […] Read more



Chickpeas. (Grigorenko/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Pulse weekly outlook: Seeding numbers may exceed USDA expectations

MarketsFarm — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) prospective plantings report, delivered March 31, provided a mixed bag for pulse growers in that country as far as the numbers are concerned. Some analysts, however, believe the actual acres seeded will top USDA’s projections. Increasing demand from China, India and a recovering domestic market have raised […] Read more