-The New Indian Express BHUBANESWAR: In its bid to ensure food security and sustainability in agriculture sector, the Odisha Government has woken up to the need of promoting organic farming. In its draft Organic Farming Policy, the Agriculture Department has proposed formation of a State Organic Commodity Board which will not only facilitate organic farming but also promote trade of organic commodities through knowledge sharing. The Department has decided to take a leaf...

-The Hindu Business Line   Two young women's organic business helps small farmers salvage their soil and livelihood Kolkata schoolmates Avantika Jalan and Rashmi Sarkar run Mana Organics, a social enterprise that helps small farmers improve soil fertility through chemical-free methods and navigate the country's complex food supply chain. Organic produce from its two projects in Tinsukia, Assam, and three villages in Madhya Pradesh are sold in New Delhi and Kolkata. Early days Registered as...

-Outlook The government today approved Rs 5,200 crore scheme for strengthening power transmission and distribution network in six North-east states. "The Cabinet today approved North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSlP) for Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland for strengthening of the intra state transmission and distribution system," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here. The scheme has been approved at an estimated cost of Rs 5,111.33 crore including capacity...

-Down to Earth Farmers want drought to be declared; government dilly-dallies According to the second survey carried out by the Revenue Department of Maharashtra, more than 20,000 villages in the state have received less than 50 per cent agricultural yield this year. The state has a total of 43,722 villages. This means that close to half the state is in an agricultural crisis. An earlier survey had put this number at a mere...

-The New Indian Express   BHUBANESWAR: Effective leveraging of agriculture is the key to ensuring food and nutrition security. This can be achieved by taking steps to ensure that technological intervention in farms is done with agreement of farmers. This was one of the key points made by a panel of experts at a forum on ‘Farming System for Nutrition (FSN) initiative in Koraput', conducted by MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) here on...