-The Hindu As cereal consumption comes down despite higher output, India needs to ramp up production of pulses to meet the nutritional requirements of the population. Since the onset of the Green Revolution in the late 1960s, India has been treading on a path towards self-sufficiency in food. The achievements have remained highly skewed towards wheat and rice on account of technological as well as policy support towards these two crops. With...
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Feeling the pulse
-The Indian Express In 2015-16, India imported a record 5.79 million tonnes (mt) of pulses valued at $ 3.9 billion, with these being even higher at 15.57 mt ($ 10.49 billion) in the case of edible oils. The Narendra Modi government has done well to hike the minimum support prices (MSP) of pulses to be grown this kharif season by 7.7-9.2 per cent, over and above the 5.4-6.3 per cent last...
More »The crisis in farm research -CD Mayee & Bhagirath Choudhary
-The Indian Express Never before has India’s agricultural science community been as demoralised as now Everyone knows Indian agriculture is in deep crisis, impacting around 115 million farmers and an equal number of landless cultivators. Two consecutive bad monsoons and falling commodity prices have resulted in the imports of edible oils and pulses touching all-time-highs, even as its exports of agri-products — from basmati rice, soya meal, sugar, milk powder and...
More »India pushes GM’s frontier again with mustard, but what’s inside it? -Zia Haq
-Hindustan Times In Bollywood romcoms, mustard fields glowing iridescent yellow are an oft-used backdrop for romantic songs. Remember the iconic 1995 hit, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge Mustard, as it were, is an onscreen metaphor for vigour and youthful passion. However, looked through a farm scientist’s lens, the traditional Indian mustard isn’t genetically very impressive. It is only half as robustly growing as its east European cousins. Low yields mean India has to...
More »Farmers demand remunerative prices, irrigation facilities
-The Indian Express Also seek higher allocation for Price Stabilisation Fund in a pre-Budget meet Farmers’ organisations, food and fertiliser companies and agriculture experts on Monday urged finance minister Arun Jaitely to ensure that farmers get remunerative prices for their produce and make sufficient Budget outlay to create irrigation facilities in the remaining rain-fed areas. They also sought increase in the outlay for expanding the number of agriculture market yards and higher allocation...
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