-Hindustan Times The unconventional system of cultivation is considered useful in controlling weed, saving water and reducing crop lodging Chandigarh: Progressive cotton farmers in Bathinda district have taken to unconventional narrow raised bed technique. According to information, about 3,500 hectares in the district is under this system of cotton cultivation that is considered useful in weed control, saving water and reducing crop lodging. The state agriculture department has recognised the novel initiative taken...

-Hindustan Times Flood-based irrigation in Haryana, Punjab a threat to groundwater which is depleting over 3 feet every year Chandigarh: Breaking the traditional wheat-paddy cycle is the need of the hour to preserve groundwater for the future generations, reveals a research conducted by scientists of the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Karnal (Haryana). Asserting that the rice crop alone consumes about 50% of the total irrigation water, the researchers have suggested radical...

-The Hindu Business Line ‘Higher output due to other factors’ Much of the increase in cotton yields in India cannot be attributed to the adoption of transgenic cotton, as claimed earlier, but to other factors such as increase in area of cultivation, fertiliser use, better irrigation and new class of insecticides in last 15 years, according to a new study. The study appeared in the journal Nature Plants last week. It was the...

-Moneycontrol.com Since the general elections, the agriculture sector has taken a back seat as the economy has itself touched new lows Since public memory is short, there is every likelihood that food inflation of 14.12 per cent in December 2019 will obfuscate the last four year’s history of low prices of food items. Vocal sections of urban India would do well to remember that in January 2017, May to August 2017 and...

  Air quality in North India in general and Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi NCR) in particular plunged to its lowest point in recent years during October-November thanks to a variety of factors. Through media reports one comes to know that stubble burning (also called paddy straw burning/ crop residue burning) is chiefly responsible for the public health crisis in India's capital and its nearby regions. Data accessed from the website...