The cotton growing area is expected to increase by at least 10 per cent during this season because farmers are getting Rs 3,200 per quintal while the Cotton Corporation of India has fixed the minimum support price at Rs 3,000 per quintal. During last year, cotton-sowing area in Andhra Pradesh was increased to 34 lakh acre from 32 lakh acre. This year, it is expected to increase to 38 lakh acre....

Orissa will soon have an e-surveillance mechanism for pest attack through use of scientific tools so that the farmers are benefited and remedial actions can be initiated by the agriculture department. “Scientists working under the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, must change their strategy and include climate change as their research focus area and also impact patterns to help farmers,” said agriculture production commissioner R.N. Senapati at state-level research council...

The proposed land acquisition Bill should adopt scores of suggestions coming from judges. Few laws have drawn criticism from the Supreme Court with such regular frequency as has the Land Acquisition Act, all the more so in recent times as the weak links in the archaic law have led to continuing legal and political battles and bloodletting. Last month, the Supreme Court identified five areas of conflict arising from the inadequacies of...

Stung by last year’s worst drought in decade that trimmed foodgrain production by more than 15 million tonne, the agriculture ministry asked all its top bureaucrats to visit different states and spend more time in the field this year to ensure timely supply of inputs to farmers and prevent a repetition of last year if monsoon become uncertain. The move is also meant to effectively monitor the sowing process and...

This is a story of a bunch of gritty women in a small Andhra village who used their traditional resources and knowledge to fight poverty and create a source of livelihoods for others. A group of 34 women, most of them illiterate, at village Pyalayaram, which falls in Deccan region of Zaheerabad mandal in the state of Andhra Pradesh.decided to set up a community grain bank with a little help...