Despite a recovery, acreage of groundnut, sunflower and castorseed recorded a sharp decline this year due to low rainfall in major producing areas during the peak sowing season. The three major kharif oilseeds are sown for a month starting June 15 and harvested between October and December. Data collated by the ministry of agriculture showed the area under groundnut declined 28.37 per cent as on July 21. The sowing area under...

Delayed monsoon rains in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are expected to impact the sowing of key crops such as cotton, groundnut, soybean, moong, urad, tur, seasum and potato. Farmers who had prepared the land in the hope of rains by June 15 are worried. According to the India Meteorological Department , monsoon is likely to remain subdued over the three states. AB Majumdar, deputy director general meteorology, Pune, said, "Rainfall will...

From the Middle East to Madagascar, high prices are spawning land grabs and ousting dictators. Welcome to the 21st-century food wars. In the United States, when world wheat prices rise by 75 percent, as they have over the last year, it means the difference between a $2 loaf of bread and a loaf costing maybe $2.10. If, however, you live in New Delhi, those skyrocketing costs really matter: A doubling in...

Over 10 lakh farmers in the state have already taken up organic farming as a result of some aggressive promotion by the agriculture department. Of the nearly 6.5 lakh hectares under organic cultivation, 2.77 lakh have been certified and farmers have been branding their produce as organic produce. Some 2.14 lakh farmers are managing certified organic land and the number is expected to go up as more and more land gets...

India's rural innovators have proved that ordinary people are indeed capable of extraordinary inventions. Despite many constraints -- lack of education and severe cash crunch -- most of them have succeeded in using technology cost-effectively to build ingenious products. A washing-cum-exercise machine, hand operated water lifting device, portable smokeless stove, automatic food making machine, solar mosquito killer, shock proof converter, a floating toilet soap are few of the products on display...