-The Times of India   Speaking at a seminar organized for honouring farmers here on Saturday, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar announced that awards should be instituted by all states for honouring innovative work done by farmers in the country. "Rajasthan has already started honouring farmers for their innovative work. The other states should also follow it. I will write to chief ministers of other states to start honouring farmers and give away...

PMO suggests adopting cluster approach to boost food output; FCI asked to enhance storage capacity With the National Food Security Bill set to be introduced in Parliament, the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has taken initiatives to boost the farm sector, including steps to increase the production of pulses and oilseeds. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), after a meeting on Tuesday to review the agriculture sector, has asked the agriculture...

-The Economic Times   The Prime Minister's Office has asked the department of agriculture to focus on ushering in the next phase of reforms by achieving self-sufficiency in key crops and ensuring creation of farm infrastructure. A review meeting of the agriculture sector, chaired by the Prime Minister's principal secretary, TKA Nair, has suggested specific measures to boost production, especially that of oilseeds and pulses, a government official said. The PMO asked...

Production to drop drastically this kharif season Pulses and oilseeds are likely to be dearer, particularly to the middle class and poor as their production is likely to go down drastically in the ongoing kharif season in the State. Scanty rainfall in the beginning of southwest monsoon season is the reason for lower coverage of various crops. As per the first advance production estimates prepared by the Bureau of Economics and Statistics...

-The Hindu Business Line   The uncertainty over adopting agricultural biotechnology is in no one's interest, given the high food inflation and dependence on imports. With food inflation climbing once again above 10 per cent, it has become even more urgent for the government to provide a a clear mandate in terms of policy support, the technology options and requisite investment for domestic agriculture. Output growth, especially of proteins, has been decisively trailing...