Indian Agriculture: Cropping Patterns, Cash Crops and Irrigation
5 mentions in the news, newest first.
Read the note on this topic →- 2026-10-01
Cabinet raises MSP for all six Rabi crops for the 2027-28 marketing season
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved higher Minimum Support Prices for all six mandated Rabi crops for the 2027-28 marketing season on 30 September 2026. Safflower received the highest absolute increase at Rs 675 per quintal, taking its MSP to Rs 7,215, followed by rapeseed and mustard at Rs 413 to Rs 6,613 and lentil at Rs 390 to Rs 7,390, while wheat received the smallest increase of Rs 25 per quintal, taking its MSP to Rs 2,610. The government said the new prices keep MSP at least 1.5 times the all India weighted average cost of production, with the margin over cost ranging from 50 percent for safflower to 106 percent for wheat.
- 2026-09-28
World Rabies Day: experts say India may struggle to meet its 2030 elimination target
World Rabies Day was observed on 28 September, the global campaign day for eliminating dog mediated rabies. Citing public health experts, Indian media reported that India may struggle to meet its own 2030 target under the National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination, even though Chile and Bhutan have already shown that dog mediated human rabies can be eliminated as a public health threat. Experts pointed to India's high dog bite burden, uneven implementation of dog vaccination and population management programmes, and gaps in surveillance as the main obstacles, and said achieving the target would need sustained district level planning rather than one off campaigns.
- 2026-09-20
India rejects Pakistan's allegations over Arabian Sea naval collision
India on 18 September 2026 strongly rejected Pakistan's allegations regarding the collision between a Pakistani naval vessel and an Indian warship in the Arabian Sea, with Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal calling Islamabad's response to India's earlier protest the usual prevarication. The incident occurred on the night of 15 September, when the Pakistan Navy vessel PNS Hunain closed in on the frontline Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata during a routine surveillance mission in the north Arabian Sea, resulting in a collision that India says was caused by an unsafe manoeuvre by the Pakistani ship. New Delhi had summoned Pakistan's Charge d'Affaires on 16 September over the incident, while Pakistan has lodged its own counter protest alleging provocative conduct by the Indian vessel.
- 2026-09-17
Pakistan Navy vessel collides with Indian warship in North Arabian Sea, envoy summoned
A Pakistan Navy vessel, identified as PNS Hunain, collided with an Indian Navy warship on the evening of 15 September 2026 in international waters of the North Arabian Sea, roughly 120 nautical miles off the coast of Oman. Indian officials said the Pakistani vessel approached at high speed and was unable to manoeuvre safely, causing the collision, and that it suffered damage and returned to its home port while the Indian warship continued its routine surveillance mission undamaged. India summoned Pakistan's Charge d'Affaires on 16 September and lodged a protest over the unprofessional conduct of Pakistani naval units, while Pakistan lodged its own counter protest, describing the incident as a highly provocative and unacceptable action by the Indian vessel.
- 2026-09-11
UIDAI says it is working to make Aadhaar interoperable internationally
UIDAI Chief Executive Officer Saurabh Vijay said at a fireside chat during the Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai that the authority's focus is now on making Aadhaar interoperable internationally, with proof of concept projects already under way and the legal framework being adapted to support this. Vijay said UIDAI is also working on policies that would let Overseas Citizens of India use Aadhaar to ease investment into the country, and is developing a lighter product called Aadhaar Lite with guidelines to follow soon. Separately, UIDAI Chairman Neelkanth Mishra said at the same event that Aadhaar authentications, currently around 100 million a day, are being scaled to handle 250 to 300 million a day, and UIDAI launched a new Aadhaar face authentication software development kit letting partner banks run verification on their own servers.