1. The Centre is set to impose a nationwide ban on Paraquat Dichloride, a widely used herbicide. This comes after an expert panel reviewed evidence linking the chemical to fatal poisoning, kidney failure, lung fibrosis and Parkinson’s disease.
2. The Indian government’s rice procurement for the official reserves during the October 2025-April 2026 period has reached nearly 50 million tonne (mt), including 1.21 mt from the winter-grown crop. The Indian government’s wheat procurement jumped 51 per cent in the past week to 44.14 lakh tonne (lt) from 29.22 lt purchased in the corresponding period last year, helping the government to narrow the deficit gap.
3. The Indian Institute of Rice Research has commenced work on a speed breeding facility. It will begin breeding operations in 4-5 months, reducing the time to release new seed varieties.
4. Crop advisory body — The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) — has recommended that the Government revise the price of ethanol derived from sugarcane-based feedstocks in view of the increase in fair and remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane. The Commission also suggested exploring the feasibility of a dual pricing mechanism for sugar for domestic and commercial users.
5. For the first time in 10 months, central banks turned net sellers of gold in March, data from the World Gold Council (WGC) showed. Led by Turkey and Russia, central banks sold a net of nearly 30 tonne of gold, offsetting purchases by other banks worldwide.
Published on May 10, 2026