-Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Agriculture) With a production of 269 million tonnes in 2012-13, the horticulture sector has emerged as a major contributor to the food basket of the country. Horticulture production grew by more than 8% during the last decade. As compared to the production of 257 million tonnes in the previous year and 215 million tonnes about five years ago, there has been significant jump in the horticulture production,...

-The Hindu KANCHEEPURAM (Tamil Nadu): Till yesterday a group of 21 women self-help groups in Avalur and Oothukaadu hamlets near Wallajahbad were producers of horticultural products. From Friday, they have taken up direct sales of a portion of their harvest in Kancheepuram town. While greens are raised on about 30 acres at Oothukaadu by 15 SHGs, others are engaged in cultivation of vegetables such as radish, brinjal, tomato on about 20 acres...

-Down to Earth Faced with crop losses because of erratic rainfall and extreme weather, tribal farmers of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh turn to bewar and penda forms of cultivation that keeps them nourished all times of the year, but government agencies are bent on rooting out these farm practices Hariaro Bai Deoria should have been a worried person this year-an untimely spell of rain late last October flattened her paddy crop, and...

-New Indian Express Kochi: You can hardly find an unused paddy field at Koodatham Poyil, a small village in Kayanna grama panchayat near Perambra, thanks to Samrudhi, a society of 21 members in the region which is on a mission to turn the village green by bringing the old glory of paddy cultivation back. Samrudhi was formed two years ago when the Krishi Bhavan encouraged farmers to get united to save...

-The Financial Express India's grain output has risen substantially in recent years. India's grain output has risen substantially in recent years, taking the country to the league of the world's largest producers of rice, wheat and horticultural crops thanks to the use of diverse seed varieties, among other things. And productivity at Indian farms could increase further in coming years thanks to a centrally managed gene bank that would help multiply seed...