-PTI Chennai: Flaying the Centre for "unilaterally" and "hastily" promulgating the National Food Security Ordinance 2013, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Saturday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to replace the ordinance with a Bill which addresses the state's concerns. "The union Government has unilaterally and hastily promulgated the National Food Security Ordinance, 2013. Though the Ordinance claims to provide food security to all, unfortunately, contrary to such a claim, there...

-The Business Standard Said his govt had introduced a lot of reforms and had worked on the ground for eight years before enforcing a legislation New Delhi: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government would need another 10 years to implement the National Food Security Ordinance. Singh, who was the chief guest at a symposium on food security here, said his government had introduced a lot...

-The Hindu Groundwater meets three quarters of the State's farming needs The Punjab State Farmers Commission recently published a draft new agriculture policy for the State that envisages substantial crop diversification from Paddy and wheat staples that the State has been growing since the sixties. The draft policy, currently being debated in agriculture circles, is the first serious road map to steer Punjab's agriculture towards a new dynamic, necessitated by a sharp...

-The Hindu Kolar (Karnataka): "I have kept one and a half acres ready for sowing ragi. However, there is neither rain nor humidity conducive for sprouting of the seeds," T.M. Venkatesh, a farmer in Toorandahalli under Jannaghatta gram panchayat limits in Kolar taluk, said. The story of Munivenkatappa, another farmer at Doddurkarupanahalli in Bangarpet taluk, is no different. Though he sowed ragi on one acre, his hopes were dashed when the skies...

-The Economic Times PUNE: Although India is known the world over for its basmati rice, there are hundreds of local non-basmati varieties that are rich in taste and aroma but still not known to urban consumers. Maharashtra is likely to be the first state to take steps for branding and marketing of these varieties. Maharashtra, a major producer of pulses but not so known for rice, has recently floated a tender to...