1. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS) rates for kharif 2026 by allocating ₹41,533.81 crore, which is ₹4,317 crore higher than the expenditure of ₹37,216.15 crore in the previous kharif season.
2. Unseasonal rain and hailstorms in March and April have impacted wheat crops across 111 districts in nine States, leading to an estimated 5-10 per cent drop in overall production. Agriwatch, in a report for the Roller Flour Millers Federation of India, also warned that up to 30 per cent of the harvest in affected areas suffers from quality degradation.
3. India’s private weather forecast agency, Skymet, has predicted a below-normal monsoon this year in view of El Niño. Skymet, which has come out with its prediction of the South-West Monsoon at least 10 days ahead of the India Meteorological Department, expects the monsoon to be 94 per cent (with an error margin of +/- 5 per cent) of the long-period average (LPA) of 868.6 mm for the 4-month-long period from June to September.
4. March 2026 was the fourth-warmest month on record across the world, with temperatures 1.48°C higher than before industrialisation, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), said.
5. Israel has allowed India market access for a lesser-known agricultural product - okra (bhindi or lady’s finger) seeds, with a permit system.
Published on April 12, 2026