Welcome to the weekly news bulletin by P Sundarayya Memorial Trust. News from August 8-14, 2026 below:

Policy News

NCDC Amendment Bill passed in Lok Sabha amid din
BusinessLine. The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the National Co-operative Development Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2026 without a debate amid continued protest by the Opposition parties seeking the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah, who also holds the cooperation portfolio, over the police crackdown on students during a protest march to Parliament on July 20. Minister of State for Cooperation Murlidhar Mohol moved the Amendment Bill to enable NCDC extend loans and grants directly to any entity engaged in cooperative development subject to furnishing security as may be required by the corporation. So far, NCDC’s credit line was reserved only for cooperative societies.The NCDC, a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Cooperation, was established in 1963 under the NCDC Act, 1962 and was amended in 1973, 1974 and 2002. Its main activities include planning, promoting and financing programmes for the production, processing, marketing, storage and export-import of agricultural produce, foodstuffs, and other notified commodities.•

TN farmers welcome hike in paddy, sugarcane incentives
TheNewIndianExpress. Farmers in the delta region welcomed the incentive announced by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay in the Assembly on Monday, though some said the amount was lower than what had been promised in the TVK manifesto. Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday announced an incentive of Rs 289 per quintal for fine variety paddy and Rs 159 per quintal for common variety paddy. The incentive for sugarcane has been fixed at Rs 709.50 per tonne. Sami Natarajan, state general secretary of the TN Farmers Association, said with the new announcement, farmers will get Rs 2,750 per quintal for fine variety paddy and Rs 2,600 per quintal for common variety paddy. “This hike is a welcome one. Though TVK had announced Rs 3,500 per quintal of paddy, the present announcement could be taken as the first step. We hope the government will fulfil its promise of Rs 3,500 in the coming years,” he said. P Govindaraj, secretary of the Sugarcane Farmers Association, pointed out that the government has announced Rs 4,000 per tonne of sugarcane. “It would have been better if the government had announced Rs 4,500 per tonne as promised in the TVK manifesto,” he said, adding that farmers have been demanding Rs 5,000 per tonne due to the steep increase in the prices of fertilisers.•

Kashmir’s fruit economy pays the price of highway disruptions as farmers fear the worst
TheWire. Kashmir’s apple harvesting season was meant to bring hope after months of weather-related setbacks in the region. But, for thousands of fruit growers in the valley, it has become a period of despair, with trucks laden with fresh produce stranded for days and debt steadily mounting as the valley’s only all-weather road link remains prone to unpredictable closures. With the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway repeatedly shut due to torrential rains, landslides and shooting stones, Kashmir’s Rs 12,000-crore horticulture industry is staring at losses. The highway’s traffic disruption has become a major hurdle, with tonnes of apples, pears and plums unable to reach markets across India and abroad on time at the peak of the harvesting season. The 270-km-long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is the valley’s only all-weather surface link to the rest of the country. Every year, it becomes the economic artery through which Kashmir’s produce reaches wholesale markets in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bengaluru and Chennai. Around 100 to 125 trucks loaded with apples, pears and plums leave the valley every day, a number expected to rise sharply as harvesting gathers pace. But growers say the highway has become a bottleneck. Although the administration had assured smooth passage for vehicles carrying perishable produce, many trucks remained stranded for days as road maintenance and disruptions caused by landslides slowed movement. Unlike ordinary cargo, early-season produces such as gala apples and pears (babugoshas) have a short shelf life. Every additional day on the highway reduces both their quality and their market value.•

SC upholds PepsiCo’s potato variety registration, says sued farmers can invoke statutory protection
DownToEarth. The Supreme Court declined to interfere with a Delhi High Court order in the long-running intellectual property dispute over PepsiCo India’s registration of the FL 2027 (FC-5) potato variety used to make Lay’s potato chips. A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran held that PepsiCo’s registration could not be revoked under Section 34(h) of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPVFR) Act merely because the company had sued Gujarat farmers for infringement, while clarifying that individual farmers can still invoke protection under Section 39(1)(iv) of the Act if PepsiCo takes them to court. Kavitha Kuruganti, a farmers’ rights activist who had sought revocation of PepsiCo’s registration and later challenged the High Court order in the Supreme Court, called the judgment “deeply disappointing”. She said the Bench had upheld Section 39(1)(iv) “in letter but not in spirit”, by making farmers prove their rights in court rather than treating PepsiCo’s suits against them as a violation of public interest under Section 34(h) — the ground on which she had originally sought revocation. The case dates back to 2018 and 2019, when PepsiCo India sued at least nine potato farmers in Gujarat for alleged patent infringement, seeking damages of more than Rs 1 crore from each. The company, however, withdrew all the cases unconditionally in May 2019. The case dates back to 2018 and 2019, when PepsiCo India sued at least nine potato farmers in Gujarat for alleged patent infringement, seeking damages of more than Rs 1 crore from each. The company, however, withdrew all the cases unconditionally in May 2019. She argued that the Court had failed to reckon with what she called PepsiCo’s “modus operandi” against smallholder farmers, contrasting India’s sui generis PPVFR framework with patent regimes like the one in the United States, where companies such as Monsanto have sued farmers. “The SC Bench had in front of it the arguments presented by the petitioner to show the legislative intent of the Parliament of India in the creation of a unique sui generis law called ‘Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers’ Rights Act 2001’. The original Bill tabled in 1999 had sought to severely restrict farmers’ seed freedoms through Sections 31 and 34 of the Bill by curtailing their rights to only commercial produce and not seed, whereas the 2001 statute had a new Chapter included on Farmers’ Rights including a Sec 39(1)(iv), which gave over-arching rights to farmers over even sale of seed of protected varieties with a proviso that restricts the right to unbranded sales,” Kuruganti said in a statement. •

Movements

Gujarat farmers continue agitation against electricity poles on agri land, reject govt’s offer
TheWire. Agitating farmers in Gujarat have rejected a revised compensation policy announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state, which is presently facing stiff opposition from farmers against the installation of high-voltage transmission lines and electricity poles across agricultural land. Earlier on July 4, the government’s resolution had shifted the basis of compensation from Jantri rates to market value and promised upfront payment. However, the farmers say that the new framework still leaves them bearing the economic cost of infrastructure that can restrict the use and future value of their land. The ongoing agitation by farmers across the state has seen protesters holding banners of that say “not allowing BJP representatives in their villages”. The protests first began against Adani Energy Solutions Ltd.‘s (AESL’s) 765-kV transmission project linked to the Khavda Renewable Energy Park. Later the agitation turned into a much larger resistance against the installation of transmission lines by all corporates. Pratik Patel, an agitating farmer told FE 40 lakh bighas land and 4.50 lakh farmers in different districts of Gujarat are at stake. “The farmers will not be able to cultivate the land fully when the poles are erected. The poles and transmission lines bring down the land price. They will not be able to sell it to industrialists in future,” said Patel. •

Natural Disasters and Agriculture

Crop loss due to rain nears ₹100 crore
BusinessLine. Agriculture Minister T Siddique on Friday said the preliminary estimate of crop losses caused by the ongoing rain and floods in Kerala has reached ₹99.29 crore, while the state has sought 110 crore in financial assistance from the Centre for relief and restoration measures. Speaking to reporters, Siddique said that as of Thursday, 36,829 farmers have been affected by the rain and flooding. “Crop damage has been reported in 3,264 hectares of agricultural land. The estimated crop loss as of Thursday evening stands at ₹99.29 crore. This is only a preliminary assessment, and the figure is expected to increase as more reports come in,” he said. The minister said he had written to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeking ₹110 crore in immediate financial assistance. Replying to questions on the procedure for reporting crop losses, Siddique said farmers should first report the damage to the local Krishi Bhavan, after which officials would carry out field verification. “Once the verification is completed and the assessment is confirmed, the details will be uploaded to the dedicated portal of the agriculture department and linked to the crop loss compensation scheme. That is the standard procedure,” he said.•

Drought spreads despite heavy rainfall events as kharif crops face moisture stress
DownToEarth. India has seen intense rainfall in recent weeks, with some areas experiencing flood and flood-like situations. Yet as August began, over a third of the country’s land area was under different categories of drought, according to the India Drought Monitor maintained by IIT Gandhinagar. Forecasts suggested the situation may not ease soon. Scientists tracking soil moisture say that drought is likely to persist across large parts of the country over the coming month, even in regions that have already seen rain. This comes against a backdrop of an overall rainfall deficit: India had received 12 per cent less rainfall than normal as of August 11, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). For farmers, the timing matters particularly as the kharif season is already under way and August falls in the middle of the kharif season, when crops such as rice, pulses, cotton, and oilseeds depend on sustained soil moisture through their critical growth stages. Persistent or recurring dry spells at this point can lower yields even if the season’s total rainfall looks normal on average. The risk is particularly significant for farmers who have already had a delayed start to the season and now face uneven rainfall during the crop-growth period. Scientists tracking the situation say the drought may also carry into the rabi season that follows, through its effect on groundwater used for irrigation. According to the India Drought Monitor, the most severely affected states, by share of area under drought, were Sikkim (80.8 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (78.3 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (72.4 per cent), Mizoram (68 per cent), Goa (67.9 per cent), and Delhi (65.2 per cent). The least affected are Nagaland (1.3 per cent), Gujarat (2.7 per cent), Tripura (9.9 per cent), and Rajasthan (10.8 per cent). Regionally, northeast India was the worst-hit, with about 58 per cent of its area under drought, followed by west India at 43 per cent and south India at 40 per cent. North, east and central India were each at about 34 per cent, while northwest India was comparatively unaffected at around 11 per cent. A separate measure, IMD Pune’s Aridity Anomaly Index, pointed to a similar trend: roughly 20 per cent of India’s districts were classified as mildly arid, 12 per cent as moderately arid, and 6 per cent as severely arid. Scientists say that the apparent contradiction between heavy rainfall and widespread drought was largely explained by how rapidly the rain is arriving, and how long the soil can retain the moisture. Karthikeyan Lanka, associate professor at IIT Bombay, told Down To Earth that researchers are seeing an unusual “swing” in drought conditions. A location can remain under drought for a week or two, briefly move out of drought after a rainfall event, and then slip back into drought soon after. There has been a pattern where rain does fall — sometimes heavily — but doesn’t translate into sustained root-zone moisture. “Momentarily soil will be wet, but then there will be long dry periods,” Lanka said. During these dry spells, infiltration is followed by evaporation and plant transpiration, causing soil moisture to fall again.•

Data

Rice prices spike across India due to weak monsoon, tightening supplies
TheWire. Rice prices have climbed by more than 10% in parts of India’s domestic market over the past few weeks, with traders and millers pointing to tighter availability of paddy as the market moves between crop cycles. The increase comes as a deficient monsoon raises fresh questions over supplies of the next crop. The increase in rice prices has been particularly pronounced in premium non-basmati varieties such as Sona Masuri, Ponni and Masuri, The Hindu BusinessLine reported. Swarna rice, had risen to Rs 34 a kg ex-mill from Rs 30, a rise of over 13 percent, in the preceding few weeks. The price movement is taking place despite the government’s estimate of record paddy production in the 2025-26 crop year. Industry representatives cited by the newspaper have instead pointed to the availability of paddy with millers and the timing of crop arrivals. Rainfall could determine whether the current pressure remains limited to the seasonal gap or extends into the next crop cycle. The monsoon was 11% below normal as of Friday, BusinessLine reported. A Delhi-based analyst cited by the newspaper said deficient rainfall had contributed to the increase in rice prices. The analyst also pointed to another possible source of demand. With the area under maize low, rice could see increased demand from ethanol producers. Prices of basmati rice have also been rising, the analyst said. The increase in rice prices comes as several other components of a home-cooked meal have also become more expensive. Crisil Intelligence’s latest Roti Rice Rate report, released on August 7, found that the cost of a vegetarian thali rose 4 percent year-on-year in July, while a non-vegetarian thali became 9 percent more expensive.•

India’s inflation rises to 4.45%, but unlikely to shift RBI rate outlook
BusinessStandard. India’s retail inflation accelerated in July, led by higher food prices, to a pace that is still unlikely to push the central bank to hike interest rates over the next few ​months. The consumer price index rose 4.45 per cent from a year earlier in July, marking a ​second consecutive month above the Reserve Bank of India’s 4 per cent medium-term target and nearly in line with a ‌Reuters poll that had estimated inflation at 4.5 per cent. “The RBI can afford to be patient for now, but not forever,” said Alexandra Hermann Prasad, lead economist at Oxford Economics. “Mounting evidence of second-round effects and rising medium-term inflation expectations will make the supply shock increasingly difficult to look through. We expect policymakers to hold fire in October, but to deliver a 25 basis point rate hike in December.” India’s food inflation climbed to 5.52 per cent in ‌July from 5.32 per cent in June, on the back of weak monsoon showers, with sharp increases in ginger, garlic and onion prices offsetting declines in tomato prices. Food inflation is expected to ease with a recovery in rains that could mitigate further price pressures from the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon.•

Odisha Cabinet approves ₹12,458 cr to expand irrigation coverage by FY31
BusinessStandard. The Odisha Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, has approved the ambitious Parbati Giri Mega Lift Irrigation Project with an estimated outlay of Rs 12,458.04 crore to create an additional irrigation potential of 262,275 hectares through 161 mega lift irrigation schemes across all districts of the state. The project will be implemented from the state’s own resources over five years — from FY27 to FY31 — marking a major push by the government to expand assured irrigation in upland and water-deficit areas where conventional gravity-based irrigation is not feasible. According to the Water Resources Department, 209 mega lift irrigation schemes have already been completed, creating an irrigation potential of 266,000 hectares across 23 districts since its inception in 2011-12. The Parbati Giri project will substantially expand this coverage, with 161 additional schemes planned across all districts of the state. •

India’s fertilizer sales down in July on dipping kharif sowing area and deficient monsoon
BusinessLine. Sales of key fertilizers such as urea, DAP, MOP and complex declined in July, when maximum planting of kharif crops takes place, fuelling apprehensions of a likely drop in production. The total area under kharif crops has been reported lower this year, though the deficit has shrunk to less than 2 per cent currently. Farmers will likely lose the crop yield even if they go for late sowing, while districts which have received less than 60 per cent rain may not be able to avert a drop in production as the weather outlook over next 20 days is not promising to compensate the loss, experts said. According to latest official data, overall there was drop of 13 per cent in fertilizer sales at 77.44 lakh tonnes (lt) in July 2026 from 89.41.