The government is rapidly implementing a comprehensive strategy to make the landlocked northeastern region an export hub for markets in Bangladesh and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations even as it negotiates a better free trade deal with the 10-nation Asean block, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

India's overall mango production may increase by about 14 per cent to 24 million tonnes this year, ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture Director T Damodaran said on Wednesday. The India Meteorological Department's forecast of a heat wave in April-May period may not have a significant impact on the mango yield, provided farmers take care of irrigation during May to reduce excessive fruit dropping, he said.

With an export ban in place on rice and wheat, the union commerce ministry has shifted its focus to exports of agricultural products including fresh fruit and vegetables to new destinations, including the US, European Union and African countries, two persons said.

India on Wednesday allowed an additional 10,000 tonnes of onion exports to the UAE through the National Cooperative Exports Ltd (NCEL), according to a notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

India is considering allowing duty-free imports of yellow peas for another month, until May, to drive down prices while bridging the demand-supply gap  tur (pigeon pea) and chana (gram), two officials said.

Director Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Jammu S. Arvinder Singh Reen visited the Controlled Conditioned Cropping Unit for mushroom cultivation located at village Chatha Gujran, Panchayat Karloop, in the sub-division of Marh, Jammu. The visit aimed to acknowledge the remarkable initiative taken by Aman Sharma, a young graduate entrepreneur from Village Marh, in establishing round the year mushroom cultivation unit just 45 days ago.