Observed changes in rainfall patterns and increased temperatures, particularly in the North-Eastern region, are the major projections on which Indian agriculture scientists are pegging their “mitigation and adaptation” plans in the farm sector in the absence of definitive long-term and area-specific data on climate change. Acknowledging that in India the “climate system is extremely complex and poorly understood in terms of extent, timing and impact”, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR)...

India is likely to see record foodgrain production in the current year on good rains, the second advance estimate of the agriculture ministry showed on Friday. Output of total foodgrains comprising rice, wheat, coarse cereals and pulses was seen at 250.42 million tonnes (mt) in the July-June crop year of 2011-12, up 2.3% from the year-ago 244.78 mt, the data showed. This is significant as the optimistic projection comes just ahead of...

The government appears to be working towards an amicable solution on the question of who can collect biometric information data for the Indian population. There has been disagreement about whether this will be done by the UIDAI headed by Nandan Nilekani, or the National Population Register headed by Home Minister P. Chidambaram. It now seems that both may continue to collect data but share its use. When any country sets about...

Agriculture sector undergoes a historic change as livestock surpasses the economy of food grain Policy makers in India are finally acknowledging a structural shift in the agriculture sector they have been noticing for a decade. Economic contribution of livestock is today more than that of food grain crops. Traditionally, of the three components of the sector—crops, livestock and fisheries—crops drove the growth, and food grains are a major part of it....

Centre convenes meeting of State Food Ministers on PDS modernisation A concerted move by the Centre to encourage the States to digitise ration cards has enabled it to weed out 2.96 crore bogus ration cards from the public distribution system. Of an estimated 10.56 crore ration cards, the number of cards has come down to 7.6 crores, Union Minister of States for Food and Consumer Affairs K.V. Thomas told journalists here. Bogus...