-The Indian Express Paddy growers in the poll-bound state suffer huge losses from unanticipated insect Pest attack. Jalandhar: For Punjab’s farmers, fortune always seems to smile on the other side. Last year, it was the whitefly sucking pest that ravaged their cotton crop. This time round, it’s the brown plant hopper (BPH) that has caused significant yield and price realisation losses for paddy grown in large swathes of the state. And there...

-The Times of India Patiala: Pest attack has been reported in some areas of Patiala and Sangrur districts on paddy crop that is about to be harvested. Patiala chief agriculture officer Parminder Singh said 'kala tela' (black hopper) had attacked paddy here forcing farmers to reap the crop pre-maturely. He said that the farmers were taking the premature crop after harvest to mandis but it was not being procured due to high...

-The Indian Express It has instructed farmers to go for direct purchase from shops where pesticides recommended by PAU and agriculture department are available given at subsidised rates. Ludhiana: AFTER A pesticide purchase scam came to light following failure of cotton crop due to whitefly attack last October, the agriculture department has decided not to purchase any pesticide this year. It has instructed farmers to go for direct purchase from shops where pesticides...

-The Hindu While farmers in parts of Punjab have started uprooting cotton crop fearing whitefly Pest attack, officials from the State government and the Centre are touring the cotton-belt to monitor the situation. The Pest attack, which caused extensive damage to Bt cotton crop last year in Punjab and neighbouring Haryana, had been reported this year as well in a few villages of Malwa region, mainly Fazilka district of Punjab. Farmers are worried...

-The Hindu Business Line State faces 73% deficit in rainfall;next 10 days most crucial, says farm minister Ahmedabad: Even though overall monsoon rainfall has been a tad above the Long Period Average (LPA) for the country, Gujarat remains the driest place and faces a severe rainfall deficit of 73 per cent of the LPA. As the key sowing period of July nears its end, the State government is betting big on the optimistic...