-The Hindu     ‘Loss of crops, deaths in heavy rains, a national calamity' Madhya Pradesh: Calling the loss of crops and deaths in this week's torrential rain and hailstorm a national calamity, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan has said that Rs. 2,000 crore would be set aside for relief in the Vote-on-Account in the Vidhan Sabha starting on Monday. Forty-nine of the State's 51 districts have witnessed hailstorm and heavy rains due to...

-Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Agriculture) The two-day National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif Campaign has come out with detailed strategy for maximising crop production during the coming kharif season. The focus will be on ensuring timely availability of fertilizers and quality seed and also sufficient credit to farmers. Based on inputs from States and the Fertilizer Ministry, it is established that sufficient quantities of fertilizers and seeds are available in...

-The Asian Age "The replacement of the rich diversity of Punjab with monocultures of rice in the kharif season and wheat in the rabi season has also contributed to the impoverishment of the soils and farmers" The year 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, a military operation which took place in June 1984 in Punjab. It was ordered by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his...

-Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution) The retail and wholesale prices of sugar across selected centers have shown declining trends during last three months across the main market centers in the country. As on February 2, 2014. The average wholesale price of sugar as on 12.2.2014 was Rs. 3168 per quintal, down from the one year back price of Rs. 3519 per quintal. Similarly, the retail...

-The Business Standard Making the agriculture growth story sustainable Finance Minister P Chidambaram's claim in his interim Budget speech of "stellar performance" of the agriculture sector is based on numbers, though it needs to be analysed from different perspectives to get a true picture. There is no doubt that agricultural gross domestic product may grow by 4.6 per cent this year. The past 10 years' average, too, may work out close to...