Farm reforms top govt agenda, asserts PM.
DELHI: Contract farming, organised retailing and a free market in agriculture are likely to be the future of domestic farm sector reforms. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that states must amend the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act "to allow for contract and free marketing, organised retailing, smooth...

Police book HSAMB employee for immolation bid.
PANCHKULA: Disturbed over being transferred from headquarters to field an assistant in the office of Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB), he made a foiled attempt to self immolate outside board headquarters here. Taking serious note of the incident, the police have booked Urvesh Goel, the errant...

USDA seeks comments on grade standard revisions.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published a notice on May 26, 2006 requesting comments on its proposal to revise the voluntary U.S. Standards for Grades of Mushrooms. AMS is considering proposed revisions that would allow the standards to be used for open...

White Lies?
"Milk your diet. Lose weight!" promise ads from the Milk Processors Education Program. "Burn More Fat!" say labels for Yoplait yogurt (ads for Kraft cheese carried the same claim). A bold marketing campaign--using radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, package labels, signs in supermarkets, free samples, WebMD, e-newsletters, information...

Spur Ventures to Establish Representative Office in Beijing And to Move Two Senior Positions to China.
SVU: TSX VANCOUVER, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Spur Ventures Inc. ("Spur", TSX: SVU, NASDAQ OTC BB: SPVEF) announced today several key changes aimed at enhancing its ability to deliver results in China. Beijing Representative Office When the Spur-Hebei Tianren merger is completed, Spur...

Grain procurement comes to doorsteps.
Byline: Nidhi Nath Srinivas NEW DELHI : MSP is the new BPO opportunity, especially if you love to travel rough. For the first time, government monolith FCI has hired a private risk management company for grain procurement in areas where there have been no state purchases till...

New Article.
Byline: Prabha Jagannathan NEW DELHI: Big business involvement in agriculture is set to take off in '07. Based on emerging trends of corporate financial involvement in the latter part of the 10th Plan period, agri business honchos have concluded that corporate majors are ready to bite big...

Market committee officials in the dock.
Byline: Sanjeev Kochhar CHANDIGARH: Senior functionaries of a board in Haryana have just realised how difficult it is to get a government organisation moving. It has taken suspensions and chargesheeting of more than 180 market committee officials, including several secretaries, in less than a year...

Onion farmers cried last year, consumers' turn now: Pawar.
PUNE: Throwing up his hands in the face of mounting onion prices, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Friday said that consumers would have to bear the brunt till produce from the fresh crop made its way to the market. According to onion traders, it will take...

Ellor appointed to National Organic Standards Board.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced the appointment of four new members to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to serve terms beginning Jan. 24, 2007 and ending Jan. 24, 2012. The new appointees--Tracy Miedema, Consumer/Public Interest member; Tina Ellor, Environmentalist member; Steve DeMuri, Handler member; and...