-The Business Standard Despite a marked improvement in the southwest monsoon, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said production of coarse cereals, pulses, oilseeds and rice, to some extent, would be less than last year. For sugar, the cane area is more. But, Pawar said, some drop in production can be expected as farmers in Karnataka and Maharashtra have diverted a sizeable portion of standing crop towards fodder. Announcing the second relief package...
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Micro irrigation answer to depleting ground water level: Sharad Pawar
-PTI Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said the ground water level in the country is decreasing and there is an urgent need to check this through encouraging micro irrigation. "The ground water table in the country has come down in the last few years and in order to check this we should work with technologies like drip and sprinkler irrigation, which minimises loss of water," Pawar said in his inaugural address at...
More »Government mulls setting minimum quantities for export of agri-commodities
-PTI To overcome inconsistencies in farm export-import policy, Food Minister K V Thomas today said the government is considering allowing a minimum level of quantity for export of select agri-commodities to help India become a stable player in the global market. "We are working on a mechanism to have a stable export-import policy on select agricultural commodities such as sugar, wheat and rice," Thomas said at the Kingsman 4th Indian Sugar Conference...
More »West Bengal, Assam fail to avail BGREI funds- Sutanuka Ghosal & Bikash Singh
-The Economic Times KOLKATA | GUWAHATI: West Bengal and Assam have failed to avail funds under Bringing Green Revolution to the Eastern India (BGREI) for FY13. In the Union Budget 2012-13, the Centre has allotted Rs 1,000 crore for seven states in the eastern region under the BGREI scheme. While West Bengal has failed to send the statement of expenditure to avail the BGREI fund, Assam, on the other hand, has taken...
More »Unless we put an end to baseless fear of GM crops, we will not be able to feed our growing population-P Chengal Reddy
-The Times of India The parliamentary committee report on genetically modified (GM) organisms is an attempt to give a quiet burial to biotechnology in India. On behalf of the farmers of India, let me say that this report totally fails to reflect farmers' aspirations, and distorts the scientific significance of biotechnology - including genetic engineering - for the national economy. Instead, it echoes persistent canards by some environmental NGOs. Indian farming suffers...
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