-TheWire.in * In his independence day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said natural farming and chemical-free farming can give a boost to self-reliance. * Because organic farming means less intensive agriculture, and in turn, decreased crop productivity, experts say India’s food security could be impacted. * Rather than a radical shift to organic farming, a middle path that combines conventional agriculture will suit the country best, they say. Kochi: “Organic farming is our duty,”...

Door-to-door and village-to-village surveys carried out by researchers of the Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana detected a total of 9,291 suicides that were committed by farmers in six districts of Punjab during the period from 2000 to 2018. Situated in the Malwa region of Punjab, which is known for cotton farming and the prevalence of cancer among its population, Sangrur (2,506) witnessed the highest number of...

-TheWire.in A Tata Nano pays the same toll to go from Mumbai and Pune on the expressway as does a Rolls Royce. Why should pharmaceutical products be any different? On May 26, amid news reports about yet another closed-door meeting that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had had with unspecified stakeholders, we were reminded of an interesting press release that the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers had issued in July 2021. The...

-Down to Earth There is a widespread availability of inferior quality as well as spurious biofertiliser and organic fertiliser products across the country The availability, quality and uptake of biofertilisers and organic fertilisers in India is poor, flagged a new report. These non-chemical options are considered critical to the transition from chemical-based to sustainable farming practices like organic and natural farming. The availability of cost-effective quality biofertilisers and organic fertilisers is, therefore, of...

 -PTI/ Business Standard The government will not increase retail prices of urea and also provide adequate subsidies to ensure that the maximum retail prices of non-urea fertilisers remain at the present level, sources said India's fertiliser subsidy bill is likely to shoot up by 55 per cent to record Rs 2.5 lakh crore this fiscal as the government will provide additional funds to make up for the spike in cost from higher...