-The Hindu GHUMNOOR (ADILABAD Dt.): In what could be the first step towards a welcome reversal of current farming practices in the Agency areas, a hotelier from Hyderabad, Ram Babu, has tied up with tribal farmers of Ghumnoor in Sirpur (U) mandal of Adilabad for the purchase of indigenous varieties of millets. Instead of Sowing the vexatious Bt cotton, the farmers will now cultivate local varieties of foodgrains in a part of...

-Down to Earth   Reserve Bank of India refuses to bail out three district cooperative banks Kharif Sowing season is close at hand, but around 100,000 farmers of Nagpur, Wardha and Buldhana districts in Maharashtra are unlikely to get agricultural loan or hailstorm relief from the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) because the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rejected banking applications of these banks. Worse, fixed deposits worth Rs 1,716 crore belonging...

-The Hindu   Challenge is to save existing acreage by increasing productivity, reducing cost Mangalore: Area of paddy cultivated in kharif season in Dakshina Kannada decreased by more than 17 per cent and in rabi by more than 15 per cent in the past decade and a half, according to the Department of Agriculture. Officials attributed this to farmers switching over to horticulture crops and converting the area under the food crop for various...

-The Indian Express   Pune (Maharashtra): Agriculture dept says the ‘first-of-its-kind' portal will have real-time information on area under fruits, vegetables, flowers and spices. In a move aimed to help planners and agriculturists, the Commissionerate of Agriculture is putting final touches to a web portal that will track the production of fruits and vegetables in the state. Claimed to be first of its kind, the portal will have real-time information about the area...

-The Hindu   Rice, a major crop in Andhra Pradesh, is cultivated using water from borewells, tanks or open wells. Since the crop grows in standing water ground water depletion is usually high especially during summer. In addition to the water shortage, non-availability of labour on time is also increasing the cost of production, forcing farmers to give up rice cultivation citing low productivity and high labour costs as reasons. Different approach A different look...